The God of Destruction and Regrowth
by Skrewksy
Summary: Kings rise and fall. But what about Gods? How is a God born? Issei wasn't sure why but he guessed that just because you found a random sword you shouldn't be risen to godhood. But then again this was the world in which one of the most powerful creatures was a gothic loli and the most powerful one, a Draconic Delinquent.
1. Chapter 1

Asgard. The land of the Norse Gods. It's a beautiful and massive world, mountains touching the sky, trees the size of giants and seas with cold salty water. Somewhere in this world the giant Surtr is buried. The Norse Gods have done something foolish and tried to control him, making a clone of him with his own flesh and blood. They had succeeded but the giant was hardly controllable. His fiery wrath was burning everything in it's path. He escaped Asgard and was soon transformed into the rook of the strongest Devil, Sirzechs Lucifer. The blood and flesh of Surtr had been left there to rot, by taking away a piece of him, the Norse Gods had effectively killed the sword wielding giant, however his soul remained.

Ragnar burst into Valhalla walking as fast as he could past the still drunk souls of the past Vikings. "Odin! Odin!" He called urgently, looking around the massive hall and it's hundreds of doors.

"What is it?" A gruff, elderly voice called from somewhere beneath him. Ragnar looked down and saw the head God of the Norse mythology under the table, clearly he had drunk too much again.

"I have grave news! Surtr's tomb has been opened!" At this everyone present in the hall, be they a long dead Viking or guard froze, Odin himself seemed to lose all of his previous drunkenness.

"Where is he?" Odin asked. He knew it only a matter of time before the bitter and hateful giant came to fulfill his destiny.

"He is dead. His corpse is cold, there is no sign of life. But the people living near there spoke of a great fire."

"So what's the problem then? He probably killed himself since he couldn't take it, he was always a prideful one." Odin said irritated that even he would get so worked up.

"Well, it's just that..." Ragnar wasn't sure what to say, during his time as King he had stories of the great giant and how he will drown the world in fire. Making a fast and reckless decision Ragnar stood in front of Odin. "Odin! Father! Please let me visit the other planes and Midgard so that I can find this giant!" He stood without fear in front of the man who ruled all of the Asagods.

"Are you implying that the great Odin, is not right!?" Shouted a viking, his gruff voice echoing in the hall, soon he was followed by many more who began to berate him.

" **Silence**!" Odin, shouted and all at once the hall had grown quiet. "Ragnar is right, his soul may still be roaming the worlds. Fine, I will allow you to search for him, if you find him, do not provoke him, call me for me, and I, along with the other Gods will deal with him accordingly." Ragnar nodded and quickly ran out of Valhalla.

* * *

Issei Hyoudou was your average 14 year old, he was now enjoying winter break, by doing what any normal 14 year old would do, watch porn. You can't really blame him since the winter this year is quite cold, it was unusual but not unheard of. Because of this cold, snow had built up and the roads were closed, meaning that no one would be outside, meaning no pretty girls to look at.

Feeling a bit thirsty -for reasons totally not related to women- Issei went down to the kitchen and opened the fridge. For the past week he has been alone since both his mother and father were caught in the storm while visiting a relative, since they were too embarrassed with his perversity they left him at home, not that he was complaining, he actually enjoyed the solitude.

Sipping on his drink Issei looked outside the window to see the snow pile up. Among the sea of white something caught his attention, it was quite big, and with it's red-orange color it stood out like a sore thumb in the white snow. He quickly dressed himself with thicker clothes and walked out to check the weird thing.

Reaching the object Issei saw that it was a sword, it's design clearly European, most likely norse in origin. It was massive, the blade alone was one and a half meters and with the hilt it was probably as big as himself. The cross-guard was slightly curved towards the blade, along the pommel and cross-guard there were carvings, in the middle of the pommel was also a gem that seemed to have some sort of liquid in it.

Deciding against his better judgement Issei touched the sword, taking it in his hands. As soon as he pulled the sword out of the snow, his skin began to burn, the burning spread from his hands until he felt like his entire body was burning, his veins carrying fire. Passing out from the pain Issei collapsed into the snow.

He stood in a mountain area, to his right was a shinning building, around the building where many men and women, carrying axes, swords and wooden shields, he looked to his left and felt a shiver run down his spine. There were two men battling each other, one was a giant with a sword that burned, the other a man with a horn in his hand. Eventually the man drove the horn into the eye of the giant with the fire sword. Suddenly the temperature rose and fire enguled everything as the giant roared. Everything goes white and Issei shields his eyes.

"That was how I killed Freyr." A deep voice echoes and Issei opens his eyes to be greeted with a smaller version of the giant he saw, his size was still impressive however as he towered over Issei with at least three heads.

"Who are you?" Asked Issei.

"I am Surtr, the fire giant, my rage and wrath will bring forth Ragnarok!" The man shouts but he then looks down and sighs. "Except that since I've been imprisoned, I've slowly lost my will, it's like that damn Asagod, Odin put a spell on my chains! The Aesir even took my flesh and blood and made some abomination out of them, I hope it killed them all... Who am I kidding, if I couldn't, then a weaker version never could."

Issei was confused, first this giant man scares him to death and now he spouts things he never heard of.

"I have grown tired of this, the rage that once burned in me has been turned to embers. I am old. Like the vikings of old, I want to embrace death, I may not go to some hall where ale and endless fighting will welcome me but I didn't want them in the first place, I want peace." The man turned his burning eyes to Issei who flinched under his gaze. " I leave my sword with you, it's the source of my power, don't worry about losing it, it will always be with you, just wish for it to appear and it will, do the opposite and it disappear." As the man spoke he slowly bagan to dissapear until Issei could see through him. "Do what you want with it mortal, destroy everyone with your burning rage, or use your fiery righteous anger and help the world, I don't care, I only leave you with my legacy, that of the Fire Giant Surtr."

As the man disappeared completely Issei had more questions than answers.

Finally Issei woke up. He looked around and saw that he was still in the place where he found the sword. Somehow he had fallen over. Rising up, he looked around and saw that the place where he laid down was devoid of snow, it looked like it had been melted, even the ground below was somewhat burned. Looking down at himself he saw that he was only wearing pants which were burned up, despite the lack of clothes he did not feel cold, in fact he felt fine. Checking himself he saw no burn marks or scars, his skin was still as untouched as before, except for the tattoo on his right forearm. It was the sword he found, he tried to wipe it off but it didn't work.

* * *

In the following weeks Issei had tried to learn as much as he could about Norse mythology, the fact that the tattoo didn't come off could only mean that either someone drugged him and made the tattoo for whatever reason. He honestly would have preferred this but he didn't do anything to incur such an elaborate plan of revenge. And he also had no way of knowing the name of gods he had never even heard of, except maybe Odin. Everything the giant said to him was true, Surtr was indeed a fire giant in Norse mythology, along with Freyr who was a God.

Issei had decided that he would test out the sword he apparently had. Walking up into the more remote areas of the hills surrounding Kuoh, Issei noticed that he wasn't getting tired, he wasn't cold, despite the almost negative temperature, his body felt as if he had just went on a small walk, not even a shed of sweat even though he should have been more than tired. Before he knew it he was already in the most remote area, up where he could not cause any damage to anything except rocks.

 _Alright. I have to wish for the sword to appear._ Issei concentrated but nothing happen. He grunted in frustration and stomped the ground. Suddenly the snow around him kicked up and left a empty area where he kicked. Issei rose and eyebrow at this. He moved to the rockier part of the area.

 _Alright. This will either hurt like hell or be totally awesome_. Taking in a long breath Issei put all of his force into his fist and punched in front of him. As soon as he touched the rock it shattered in an area as big as a car.

"HOLY SHIT!" Issei shouted looking at his fist, he then bagan to laugh and ran around punching every rock he encountered. It wasn't before long that he realized that he was doing and stopped. He looked around and saw that the somewhat rocky area was now full of pebles.

 _Shit_. He thought looking at the destruction around him. _And I haven't even used the sword._ He sighed and tried to summon it again.

 _Imagine it being there, wish for it to come to you._ Soon he bagan to feel the same fire in his veins he felt when he aquired the sword, only this time it wasn't bothering him. Sweat began to pour down his brow as he concentrated harder. Finally the sword appeared and Issei looked at it. It was the same as when he first found it, except it was now silver instead of the red-orange. This got the gears in his head turning and Issei began to concentrate on the blade, soon it began to emit heat and slowly reddened until it caught on fire. He now tried to concentrate on something else, in a matter of second the blade cooled off.

Issei had kept going to the same remote area for a while now, in time he noticed that he could use the sword better, he could make it appear faster and faster and somehow he kept becoming more skilled with it. Well, for someone with no prior experience with swords that is.

Right now Issei was sitting cross-legged, the sword in his lap, he had his eyes closed in concentration. His warm breath leaving trails of steam in the cold air. He moved his hand on the grip of the sword, he took a deep breath and suddenly, around him in a meter wide radius the snow was melted almost instantaneously.

 _So this is what has become of The Destroyer of the Universe._ Ragnar thought looking at the teen who seemed to test his new powers. Right now Ragnar wasn't sure what to do. He had searched pretty much all of Europe and most of Asia, he didn't expect to find the giant in this country specifically, and in this state. In any case, he figured he would call Odin and let him and the other Asagods deal with the situation. While a powerful in his own way, Ragnar was only a heroic spirit, beings that are strong, but not strong enough to take care of a being such as _The_ Fire Giant.

He quickly cast the spell and waited for the arrival of the Aesir and Vanir. He didn't have to wait long as within second Odin appeared, alone, strangely, on top of the eight legged horse Sleipnir. Knowing Odin he porbably would have wanted to come by carriage but the weather and area they were in didn't allow it.

Without wasting any time Odin got off the horse and looked down at the young man who was still meditating.

"I see. Surtr really did die. I'm not sure whether to call the kid lucky or cursed, by sheer chance he found the sword and now he'll have to live with it for the rest of his life." Odin said, his long, silvery beard and hair flowing in the cold wind.

"What do you mean? He simply found the sword?" Ragnar asked rising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Surtr probably used the last of his strength to get away from us, that's why you found him here, and that's why only his sword remained. The kid was probably nearby as Surtr used all of his power and 'collapsed'... Never thought I'd see this day, The Great Surtr, dead, his soul at least." Odin said and turned around. "Come. Let's get back to Asgard." He said getting up of Sleipnir.

"We're just going to leave him? Isn't he our problem now? While a simple human, he is still in possession of his sword. A sword powerful enough to kill a God." Ragnar said, he knew to not question Odin's judgement but in this case he truly believed he was right. After all, leaving something like the sword of The Destroyer of the Universe in the hands of a human is not a good idea by any moral code.

"And what exactly are we to do mighty hero Ragnar? Take him with us? He's a just a brat, his parents and everyone else that knows him will notice if he goes missing. We could make them forget him but what good would that do, especially if my son finds out." Ragnar frowned at Odin's words, he was right, they couldn't just take the kid.

"I propose we at least initiate him into what will come for him. We can't just leave a mortal with such a powerful item. Imagine if it fell into the wrong hands."

"Perhaps you are right... Fine we'll do as you say. After the 'initiation' you'll be the one to train him." Odin said with a grin. Ragnar was expecting as much so he didn't say anything except furrow his brow. "We'll send someone to pick him up later."

A knock was heard at the door. Issei was confused by this, the snowstorm was still going strong and from what he heard he would be alone for another week at least, and nobody in their right mind would be outside in this kind of weather.

Rushing down he opened the door to find an old woman with silver hair, despite being much older than Issei he could clearly see that she once was a beautiful albeit somewhat scary woman, her eyes while holding a kind look also had a fearless fire burning inside.

"Hello young man. My name is Göndul, I am a Valkyrie." Issei rose an eyebrow at this and looked outside to see if anyone else was also there.

"Sorry I'm too young to buy whatever you're selling and my parents aren't home." As he said this he moved to close the door but was stopped by the woman, Issei tried to close the door but it wouldn't budge. Göndul may have been old but she still had a lot of strenght, maybe a little too much.

"I'm not selling anything boy. And if you're going to be rude I may just take your soul." Issei was left scratching his head as this weird old lay entered his house and sat down on the couch. "Like I was saying I'm Göndul, a Valkyrie, I am here to talk with you about that sword." At these words Issei froze, he wasn't expecting someone to come so quickly so maybe he was naive.

"I guess you want your super-weapon back right? So is this some goverment secret weapons program or something? Are you going to brainwash me now?" Issei asked. Göndul looked at him for a second and after seeing his serious face began laughing laudly. Calming herself Göndul wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at Issei chuckling lightly from time to time as she spoke.

"No, no, although I appreciate you making me laugh..." Göndul stopped and cleared her throat. "What you currently posses is the sword of Surtr, The Destroyer of The Universe, King of The Fire Giants. It's a sword of immense power, powerful enough to burn all of Yggdrasil. By now you can guess why I'm here." Issei wasn't the brightest of people but he slowly began to realize what all of this meant.

"It's because I'm the chosen one right?!" Of course that didn't mean he was right.

Göndul sighed and shook her head, she somewhat expected this, she was after all talking to a 14 year old. "In a way you're right but you were simply lucky to find the sword. I'll just spell it out for you. I'm here to take you to Valhalla. There you will be 'initiated'."

"What does being 'initiated' mean?" A question Göndul was expecting.

"Do you know the principle of baptizing?" Issei nodded and Göndul continued. "Good. It's similar to that in the sense, instead of being recognized as a Christian and given a Christian name you will be recognized as a Warrior of the Nord. Nobody has been initiated in a long time so I'd imagine that whatever information your people had on it is gone." Göndul stood up from the couch and walked over to Issei. "In any case, take my hand, we're going to Asgard."

Issei was stunned, he might have seen Asgard from a distance when Surtr appeared before him but this was different. He was walking on a goddamn rainbow! In front of him was a large golden city and at it's center stood a massive building. The sight of it all was simply too much for him. Göndul smiled at seeing the reaction of the young man.

"Are you enjoying the sight?" Said Göndul, she walked in front of Issei, turned he back to him and spread her arms presenting the sight. "This is Asgard! The Home of Gods!" She said with pride. She turned back to Issei and led him on the multicolored path until they were in the golden city. They kept walking for a while until they reached the giant golden hall. From inside Issei could hear the sounds of metal striking wood and metal, laughter and music.

As the doors to the hall opened and Issei walked in he was once again mesmerized by the sight. Along the length of the hall ran a table, on in being various foods and drinks, on either side of the hall there were many doors, almost too many to count. The most amazing thing of all was the mass of warriors, all clashing swords, axes and various other tools of combat. In the very back of the hall Issei could see two people, one was a old man, judging by his long white hair and beard, he sat on a throne, on either of his shoulders were two crows and in his hand he held a spear. The other man was the stereotypical Viking, having a bushy beard and long blonde hair, he was dressed in leather and had what looked to be armor on, although he only wore the chest-guard and pauldrons.

Göndul led Issei through the sea of warriors and soon enough they reached the two men sitting at the end of the of the hall.

The old man rose from his seat and walked over to Issei, he held out his hand and Issei shook it. "It's good to finally meet you, Prince of The Fire Giants."

"Huh?" Issei rose an eyebrow and stared confusedly at the old man, whom he presumed was Odin.

"Well you are in a sense Surtr's son, after all, the sword is his soul and power and since it's been in your possession for some time now I'd imagine the merging process has started." Odin said laughing.

"I don't get it, what do you mean merging?" Issei asked confused yet again.

"You'll find out soon enough. For now, however, we need to 'initiate' you." And with that Odin hit the floor with his spear until the eternal battle of the souls stopped.

"Rumors have been going around that Surtr, after his imprisonment has died, in a sense those rumors are true. His sword-well his soul to be exact- did however live on. In what I can only guess was a desperate attempt to save what was left of him he had reached the far east, where this young man found the sword. It's time we finally 'initiate' someone again, and who better then Surtr's son!" Odin said and the warriors cheered. Issei however was still confused, here he was in some giant hall with people he only heard about in legends. From what he could figure out, everything about Norse mythology seemed to be true, since he was right now sitting in a giant golden hall and in front of him was a old man with one eye.

His questions about the whole situation will have to wait however because as soon and the souls stopped their cheering Odin began what he could only guess to be the ceremony of 'initiating' someone. It was over before he knew it with Odin saying something in a language that sounded like Swedish but he couldn't be sure.

"Was that it?" Issei asked looking at the old man.

Odin somehow acquired a dagger and took Issei's hand in his. With a motion so quick Issei didn't even register it, Odin made a small cut on Issei's palm. A woman with blonde hair and greed eyes came and set down a bowl with water in front of him. Odin placed what looked like a branch in the water, in no time the water turned golden as the branch released it's sap into the water.

"Mix your blood with the sap of Yggdrasil, young prince." Issei did as he was told and placed his hand in the bowl mixing the golden water with his red blood. The mixture turned bright orange. Strangely he could see little embers glowing on the submerged branch. What happened next however was even more strange, the mixture of water, sap and blood suddenly caught fire as did the branch. It burned for a while before nothing was left but a small seed.

"If any of you needed more confirmation that this young man is the Son of Surtr here you have it. His fire, his blood turned water and ash into a seed. This small seed shall grow into a large tree and it will remember everyone of the day Surtr was reborn. Not anymore will Surtr be the giant who burns the Tree of the World, instead he will be the one who will regrow it. Now, I, Odin, Father of All, bearer of the wisdom of Yggdrasil shall recognize the newly-born Son of Surtr as a God, he shall be the God of Fire, The God of Destruction and Regrowth."

 _This couldn't have escalated more quickly_. Issei thought, one second he was jacking off, the next he was raised to the rank of God. _I mean seriously. What the fuck? Who just raises a damn 14 year old to godhood!?_

In the end Issei couldn't do more than eat and drink from the massive amounts of meat and mead on the tables, this was Valhalla so even the smallest of occasions was treated as a feast, just imagine what would happened when someone was raised to the rank of godhood after being the first one initiated in hundred of years. As you would expect it would be monumental. And that would be the reason Issei it right now standing awkwardly sipping on a horn of mead.

A large majority of the beings in the golden hall, had blonde hair, he noticed, and that is why when his eyes caught a glimpse of silver his attention was imidately drawn to it. There he saw a girl, she looked barely older than him, but judging by her more refined facial features he guessed that she may indeed be olden than him.

Before he knew it he was drawn to the young woman and in no time stood in front of her. _Great job, Issei, now what?_ He wasn't really sure how to start a conversation with the girl, hell he wasn't even sure why he was in front of her trying to talk to her. "Hey, is it always like this around here?" _Fantastic, might as well have asked her about the weather you idiot._

"Well considering this is Valhalla I would be inclined to say yes, but this is a special occasion. You be the judge." The young woman spoke without lifting her eyes from her cup of mead. When she finally saw him her eyes widened. "Oh. Forgive me, I did not know it was you Prince."

"Prince?" _I know I'm supposed to be the spiritual son of that guy but seriously I'm just a 14 year old, last week my only concern was what porn I should jack off to._ Indeed Issei was not yet used to the way everyone around him treated him, but who could blame him, he was after all thrown into this world and told that from now on he'll be recognized as a God. Perhaps for any other delusional 14 year old this might have been excited at the prospect of being a literal God but Issei could only think about what it all meant in the end.

Would he be able to see his parents? Would he die? Was he immortal? What the hell did becoming a God even mean? Would he start to glow and become full of wisdom? Would he have a halo?

"You are the Prince of the Fire Giants are you not? You are also a God in the making. It would be rude to call anything that didn't imply total respect." The girl said as she drank from her cup.

"Honestly I'm still trying to wrap my head around it all. I'm still a brat in the eyes of many. I'd also thought that becoming a God would make me feel, different somehow, but honestly all I can do is shake, my fingers also feel numb and the hairs on my body have yet to stand down... And please call me Issei." The girl smiled and moved her cup until it hit Issei's own.

"Rossweisse, it's nice to meet you Issei-kun." Issei honestly didn't know what to think, all this time his interactions with girls had been lacking and the small ones he did usually ended with them looking at him in contempt. The smile she gave was also positively stunning, so much so that I found myself blushing at the beautiful sight before me.

"Is something wrong? Your face is red, have you perhaps drunk too much?" I shake my head and reply with my honest feelings at the time without thinking.

"No it's just that your smile was so beautiful." Immediately all the heat in my face goes away as I realize what I said. _I actually said that out loud!_

The awkward silence between us is broken when suddenly the warriors around us whistle and cheer apparently having somehow heard our conversation. I look at Rossweisse and see that she too is a very bright shade of red.

"S-Sorry. I-I said that without thinking." I say trying to dissipate any misunderstandings.

"So you didn't mean it? Huh, I guess men really are the same." Before I can say anything else Rossweisse leaves and I'm left with a bitter taste in my mouth. _Flawless execution as always, Romeo._

A servant had informed Issei that a room was prepared for him and he would spend the night in Asgard, just to be sure that his parents wouldn't come home just to find the house empty Issei checked the weather and saw that while the snowfall had let down, the temperature was still well below zero so they wouldn't be coming any time soon.

Feeling exhausted he went to the room prepared for him and collapsed into the bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Issei was warm, cozy, the sort of warmth everyone experiences after a nice night of rest, and even though his head was slightly hurting from the mead and ale from last night he was still comfortable, if a bit thirsty.

Slowly he got out bed and looked around the room he was in. It was quite cozy with a large bed in the back being the first thing anyone coming into the room would notice. Last night he was too tired and simply searched for the closest thing resembling a bed, somehow he found it. But now that he was awake and quite rested he could see that on the floor there were different animal furs, the floor was made of dark wood, the same material had also been used for the walls, making the room look like a mountain cabin, considering that this was Asgard, where mountains were the dominant landscape it wasn't that strange.

"Prince? Are you awake? Lord Odin has called for you." A voice came from behind the massive wooden door. Replying to what he could only guess was a servant Issei searched for his clothes. Quickly getting dressed Issei opened the door and followed the servant through the halls until they somehow ended up back in Valhalla where Odin and a few other people he didn't recognize were waiting. One was a beautiful woman who had a boar by her side. Next to her was a tall man with red-blond hair and beard. There were other people but his attention was quickly captured by Odin when he began to speak.

"Good morning! I trust you slept well. I sent you some women to keep you warm but you were already asleep by the time they got you. No mind, you will have all the time in the world for that." Issei wasn't sure how to respond to that, he was a teenager after all, he was practically made of hormones and knowing that he missed a chance made him just a _little bit_ mad. Odin chuckled as he saw the conflicted expression on the young man's face, he was clearly not happy with the revelation that was thrown at him yet he still tried to look as calm and not embarrass himself in front of so many people.

"Anyway…-the young man coughed-You called for me?"

"Yes I did indeed. I told you yesterday that you shall be recognized as a God but that can only go so far. Gods are usually born in our Pantheon so the process for someone or something to be accepted as a God is known only by a select few, the highest ranking Gods are among those few." Issei just stared at Odin waiting for whatever the old deity had in store. "Come. We shall see if the tree agrees with my decision." And with that Issei followed Odin and that other people, who he assumed were also Gods. He didn't really know who any of them were, except for the man with red-blond hair, the hammer at his waist being a dead giveaway at his identity.

All of them walked for some time through the beautiful lands of Asgard until they reached The Bifröst. They continued to walk in silence, the clatter of different accessories they wore being the only sound that could be heard.

Without warning the rainbow colored path under them disappeared and they were sitting on a massive branch of an even larger tree. The size was incredible, it couldn't even be described in human terms. Issei looked on amazed as the tree swayed gently in non-existent wind. Suddenly he was not on the branch of the tree anymore but was now floating quite a distance away from it. From here he could see nine spheres of different color, the ones that immediately caught his attention were the blue one and the golden one sitting one above the other.

"This! This is Yggdrasil. The Tree of the World. More of a honorary title since it's more like a network between the nine realms. The Eagle at it's top is the collective knowledge of all worlds and times." _But I thought Odin was…_ Issei decided to voice his question.

"Weren't you the bearer of wisdom of Yggdrasil?"

Odin smiled. "I am the bearer of that wisdom, the Eagle, is a sort of interpreter, he contains the knowledge of the tree and when the tree has something to say about our affairs he speaks." _That makes sense… somewhat…_ Issei thought, he raised his gaze from the enormous tree and looked at the two birds sitting at the top, there was the Eagle and a much smaller bird sitting between it's eyes.

"Usually Ratarosk would come and deliver the word of the Eagle but this is a special occasion. We shall see if the tree thinks my decision was wise. Not that I would care if it disagreed." Odin said with a chuckle. This God was seriously too laid back.

The eyes of the giant Eagle landed on Issei and it stared at him for a good few minutes until it looked away and resumed it's stance. _Was that it?_ Before Issei could ask the question the Eagle opened it's beak and a voice echoed in all of the space surrounding them and the tree.

"This one is foolish, young and lucky, but greatness tends to favor the fools. The flames have been doused but the fire is still there." Issei expected the voice to carry power, respect, generally to sound different, instead he was surprised it sounded like your average man's voice.

"What did it mean?" Issei asked Odin who was running a hand through his silver beard.

"Bah. The bird likes to speak cryptically but it's nothing to be worried about. It generally doesn't care about us or anything other than Niðhöggr. You shouldn't worry about it's words too much. If it had anything to say against my decision you would know. Plus, the deed is already done." Odin said and turned around, a portal opening in front of him, from which Bifröst seemed to stretch forwards towards Asgard.

* * *

Night was approaching. Issei had decided to get away from the feast for now, it wasn't like it would end now, from what Odin said, it would last for a whole week, and that was only the celebration of his ascension. This was Valhalla, the feasting would never stop here. Currently he was sitting on a hill overlooking most of Valhalla and the surrounding city. A pair of footsteps alerted him that someone was coming but he paid them no mind.

Issei took another sip from the horn in his hand and waited for the person behind him to begin speaking. That didn't happened so he took it as a sign that they left, even though he didn't hear the person leave.

"I-I...P-Prince, there is… something we must talk about..." Issei turned around immediately when he heard Rossweisse's voice. When his eyes met her own he was left speechless. Bathed in the moon of the light and stars, silver hair flowing, face flushed and white dress fluttering in the wind, she made for quite a sight, especially to his slightly buzzed mind.

"Ah, Rossweisse. I'm sorry about before. If I offended you I'm truly sorry. When I said that I didn't mean it, what I meant to say was that I spoke before I knew it." Issei spoke, he wanted to clear this misunderstanding as soon as possible so he said those words while bowing sincerely.

Rossweisse was honestly rather embarrassed, here he was apologizing to her for calling her smile beautiful. Honestly, she wanted to apologize first for being so rash but when she went to his room earlier she couldn't find him. Last night she was quite drunk after being rejected by one of her seniors so the celebrations were just the perfect excuse for her, that was also the reason she was so abrasive towards being complimented, she just couldn't see anyone actually being honest when complimenting her.

"I-I'm sorry as well, last night I was not feeling at my best so I hope you can forgive me and we can start on better terms. It would not do after all for wife and husband to dislike each other." Rossweisse said, this was the reason she actually sought him out. Odin had decided that Issei would need an appropriate gift, so he decided that rather than giving him a one night stand with some random girls, he would rather give him a faithful wife. Of course that didn't mean the ones chosen were unwilling, hardly, they would all jump at the chance to become Queens, and since the new King was young, they wouldn't need to worry about him being too much of a lost cause. In the end she was the one chosen, having a very sharp mind, devotion and beauty to spare.

"I see. I'm glad that y-… Could you please repeat that last bit, I think I miss-heard you."

"Did you hear me say that husband and wife shouldn't dislike each other?"

"Ye-yes?"

"Than you heard correctly."

Issei stared wide eyed at her before taking a sip from his horn and laying down. "When, exactly was this decided and by whom?" Issei asked, still baffled.

"Today. Odin-sama decided that he should give you a gift to celebrate. Are you against the idea of marrying me?" Rossweisse said, a bit of sadness seeping into her voice, if he was indeed against the idea, this would make it her thirtieth rejection.

"I-It's nothing like that. I'm not exactly against it… It's just that..." It seemed things had suddenly got way out of his control, first he found out most of the myths were true, than he was raised to godhood and now as a celebration gift, he was to marry the girl that captured his attention the day before. He wasn't sure whether to curse his fate or scream to the heavens because of his luck. "Things are moving too fast for me to keep up."

"Refusing a gift from Odin-sama is certainly going to have a bad influence on your reputation." _Why did I say that!_ Rossweisse thought. While refusing a gift wasn't the nicest thing to do, it certainly wouldn't affect the reputation of anyone, no matter who they were or who gave the gift.

"I'm not going to. I may not have known Odin-san for long but I trust him and his judgement, if he wants me to marry you I have nothing against it. I doubt any other girl wouldn't even have glanced at me, especially back home, so for a pervert like me, this is just perfect." Rossweisse frowned, he might have tried to sound strong and uncaring but it was clear that he was having a hard time dealing with all of this, and self-deprecating himself wouldn't help in any way. Rossweisse smiled and got down on her knees behind him, stretching her arms, she hugged Issei from behind and pulled him into her chest.

"I promise I will make a good wife to you, if you promise to make a good husband to me." Rossweisse said running a hand through his hair to soothe him. The action seemed to work as Issei took a deep breath and replied.

"Sure."

* * *

As if the celebration of his ascension wasn't enough, Issei now had to deal with the celebrations of his own wedding. He wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that his parents wouldn't know he is already married until he came of age.

"Don't worry, we'll have another wedding in Midgard as well, and then you can invite everyone you want." Rossweisse said from his side. While the whole ordeal left a bitter-sweet taste in his mouth he couldn't afford to let it show, after all Rossweisse, now his wife, was so happy during the whole ceremony he thought he would get diabetes from how sweet she was being.

Issei smiled and grasped her hand under the table. Currently they were enjoying the feast along with a little display of swordsmanship. _That reminds me,_ _I need to train with that thing, what I did before couldn't even be called training. I was just swinging the sword around._

And so celebrations continued well into the night, both bride and groom were already tipsy and were happily dancing. Göndul watched the two dance with a melancholic smile.

"Was this really the best decision, Odin-dono? They are young and full of life, isn't it a bit too rash?" Göndul asked the old god.

"It is fine, Issei is a gentle young man, he will become a good husband to your granddaughter. And if they were against it. Would they look so happy?"

Göndul looked back to her granddaughter and saw the smile on her face, the same expression being mirrored by Issei.

"Do not worry, Göndul. It is often the love built with care and time that lasts the most." Göndul was once again reminded why Odin was the Bearer of Wisdom. She knew why this marriage was arranged, Odin wanted to be sure that he had the favor of the newly ascended God, it will be some time before he was even close to being powerful enough to pose a threat to any of the Gods but he was the spiritual heir of Surtr so the Fire Giants took to him rather quickly claiming him as their true leader. The reason why this marriage started to become obvious when that fact came to light. It was a win-win situation. And he was right, they seemed happy together. They say that alcohol rids one of inhibitions, if that is true, than those two truly have nothing against each other, except maybe slowly growing affection.

"It's time for the newly-weds to retire to the matrimonial bedroom." And once again Göndul was reminded why the higher ranked among them sometimes questioned the claim that Odin was the wisest among them. She stared at Odin, her mouth hanging open. "It's up to them if they want to do anything, I just thought they might like to retire for the night, they are surely tired from the dancing and the ale isn't helping." _I'm sure you only had the purest of intentions in mind._ Göndul rolled her eyes at the King of the Aesir.

Walking, read stumbling, Issei and Rossweisse made their way to the room Issei stayed in the night before. When they entered they saw that the room had already been prepared before-hand. A hot bath was already waiting for them. Issei wasted no time and got rid of his clothes before entering the rather big bath. It reminded Issei of the baths he would see in inns that had hot springs, except this one wasn't built into the floor and once emptied could probably be easily moved by two stronger people.

The warm water did wonders to his tired muscles and Issei felt like he was in heaven, technically he was, just not in the right mythology.

"What am I to do with you, selfishly taking the entire bath by yourself." Rossweisse sighed and took off the ridiculously intricate dress she was wearing, she honestly would have preferred a simple white dress over this wedding one, she didn't even know why she had to wear it, perhaps so Issei would not be too culture shocked? Whatever. She finally got the dress off and was about to take off her underwear when a thought struck her.

She was about to enter a bath, with someone who was now her husband, was she really fine with this? Was she fine with what was about to transpire on that bed? Thoughts ran through her head, all making her hesitate just a little more. This was what she always wanted right? Someone to finally not reject her for once, but this was an order of magnitudes above that, they had already passed boyfriend and girlfriend level and were now straight to husband and wife. Was she really fine with anyone?

What was she saying, of course she wasn't. But this wasn't anyone, this was Issei, she might have not known him for long but he was a sincere and good man, she didn't need to think too much about it. Plus, Issei had already shared the insecurities he had, she was sure his mind was even more occupied, he had to deal with much more than she did and yet he was as silent as a rock. Looking at him, she expected to find him in the tub, with a complicated expression on his face. Instead she found just water.

Looking around the room she didn't see him anywhere, she looked back to the tub again to find him submerged in the water.

"Ahh!" With a cry she quickly jumped in, draining some water from the tub. Lifting him up, she found that he was thankfully still alive. If he wasn't it could have spelled as all sorts of problems. Besides him obviously being dead, she could have been framed as the murdered, or Odin-sama, the Fire Giants had finally gained back their King, it would not do well to anger them in such a way. "Thank goodness..." Rossweisse thought after she saw him cough up the water.

 _What the hell happened?_ Issei opened his eyes to see the light blue shade of Rossweisse's own. Looking down he found that even though she was in the bath, she was still in her lingerie, which was now soaking wet. He gulped as the eroticism of her current appearance hit him.

Rossweisse was about to sigh from relief again when she saw Issei open his eyes, just before she did, something rubbed her in a rather sensitive area. Looking down, she noticed a few things. One; Issei was naked. Two; her underwear became see-through. And three; she was straddling Issei. If the water wasn't already hot she was sure it would have surely heated up when she threw her head underwater to hide the blush that grew there.

"W—Issei coughed—What happened?"

"You almost died, that's what happened. You were probably too tired and fell asleep in the water." Rossweisse said removing her soaked lingerie. Issei moved with the speed of sound and placed both his hands underwater. Following his arms Rossweisse saw what he was trying to hide. Her blush grew even more than his and she swore the water got just a little hotter. In fact it actually did.

 _What the hell?_ Rossweisse looked up at Issei and saw that he was redder than she thought possible, steam was also coming from his head. She burst out laughing.

"W-What's so funny?" Issei said fidgeting.

"I'm… I'm sorry It's… It's just that, steam is coming out of your head. Are you really that embarrassed?" He was probably using his powers without realizing so it wasn't really his fault. That didn't make it any less funny to her though, in fact it amplified it.

"Look who's talking!" Issei said huffing. "I'm getting out." He said rising from the water, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Rossweisse, mostly because when he did, she got a clear view of the half-mast he was sporting.

"Wah!" She quickly covered her eyes and turned around.

Issei, surprised by the sound, looked to Rossweisse confused, before it hit him. Quickly, he covered himself with a towel and got out of Rossweisse's line of sight, going to the bed.

After some time Rossweisse looked towards the bed to see that Issei was already in bed and judging by the soft rise and fall of his chest, he was already asleep, so she took her time drying herself and joined him in bed. Turning to her side, she looked at Issei's wide back, she moved closer to him and hugged him from behind, she closed her eyes and hoped to fall asleep.

* * *

 _Of course I can't sleep…_ Rossweisse sighed. Her mind was too busy wondering about what it meant to be Issei's wife. She just couldn't sleep, not with her heart beating as fast as it did. _Should I go for it? But he's already asleep and tired… Still, this is a wedding night, people are going to expect something to happened…_ Did she care that people expected things to happened between them? No, not really. Did she want things to happened? _Y-Yes…_

Gathering her courage Rossweisse shook Issei awake.

"What is it?" He asked rubbing his eyes.

"I-I want to..." She couldn't say it! How could she, she wasn't some shameless, straight-forward woman.

"You want to?" Issei asked, expecting her to continue.

"T-This is our wedding night, right?"

"Y-Yeah." Issei asked, redness returning to his cheeks.

"It's supposed to be special, right? We-We're supposed to… to… do it, you know…" Rossweisse said trying to not die of embarrassment.

"And do you want to?" Issei might have the chance of a life-time in front of him but he sure hell wasn't going to do something if Rossweisse didn't want to, there would be no enjoyment in that.

"D-Don't make me say it." Issei's eyes grew so wide he swore he could see into the next realm. Throwing away the covering from both himself and Rosswiesse, Issei took in her lingerie-clad form. Bathed in the moonlight, silver hair shinning and sprawled behind her, rosy cheeks and half-lidded eyes drew him in. They kissed softly, it wasn't their first kiss, but it was the one where they weren't under any sort of pressure and no one was watching. Now they were all alone, they had time to study each other and that is what they did. Slow kisses, tentative touches, it was a new experience for both of them.

Issei softly kneaded Rossweisse's breasts, this was one of his dreams, but right now he was too focused on the feeling of the perky mounds in his hands, Rossweisse's soft, erotic breathing and his own arousal, to care about any of that. All he wanted was to follow his instincts, and they told him to make love to the woman currently below him.

Rossweisse wrapped her hands around Issei's neck and brought him down for another series of kisses, more passionate this time, she was heating up rapidly, sweat already making her skin shine slightly, Issei had honestly never seen such a beautiful sight.

Realizing that they were both naked as the day they were born-and the room wasn't exactly the hottest place on Earth-made Issei cover both of them with the blanket he had thrown at the end of the bed.

Taking in the beautiful sight that was a panting, sweaty Rossweisse, Issei kissed her quickly once more and sealed the deal, Rossweisse's arms tightening around his neck as she gasped.

* * *

The light of morning shone through the window and Issei woke up feeling rested. He looked at the young woman in his arms and blushed. There she was in all her beauty, silver hair sprawled behind her, shinning and wild; soft, pale skin against his own, and of course, her face, with all of it's sharp edges and foreign beauty, well to him at least, in here, he was the foreigner, but that thought only passed by briefly in his mind before he returned to studying and admiring her peaceful sleeping face.

Icy blue eyes slowly opened, moving long, silvery eyelashes with them and she looked up to find herself in his arms. As soon as the realization hit her, her face grew red.

"G-good morning." Issei said nervously, he wasn't sure how she was going to respond, even if she was the one who wanted to do this he still had cold feet.

Rossweisse didn't reply, instead she just buried her face in his chest. At this point Issei knew what was coming, she had regret what she done and was now most likely going to slap him and go see if there could be anything done to abolish the arrangement.

However, to his surprise, the slap never came, instead he found her lifting her face slowly and gazing at him, her face redder than a tomato.

"I-I'm sor-" Before he could say anything both of her hands were already sealing his mouth shut.

"Don't apologize. I… I just needed a moment." She said while removing her hands from his mouth.

"Still, if you regret this, I'll speak with Odi-" And now she placed them back.

"Do you honestly think, I would throw away something I've wanted for so long? You had other things on your mind so I'm sure you don't know this but I've actually already finished high school and I'm already in college. I've studied hard and because of this my socializing skills are basically non-existent. I overheard some of my classmates once, talking behind my back, about how I would die alone and bitter. I wanted to prove them wrong so I kept talking and confessing to boys, but I only got two types of responses, "I'm not interested" and ones which are much worse. I was almost assaulted once but luckily I managed to escape. That, along with another reason is why I was so… abrasive after that comment you made." Rossweisse confessed, once more removing her hands from his mouth once she was finished.

"...Still, don't you think we moved a little... too fast?" Issei said trying to find the words he was looking for.

"We may have rushed a little, I was honestly too upset about my whole situation, I think a couple more years and I would have been fine with anyone as long as they showed any interest… You shouldn't feel bad about it… I-I enjoyed i-it." A blush grew on her face and Issei's at those words. "You can blame it on the ale if you want. We did have our fair share." She finished with a laugh.

"I don't feel bad about it, it's just… I don't want you too have any regrets. I wouldn't be able to call myself a man if I made you regret something like this… And… And I l-liked it as well..." Issei said looking like some innocent school-girl, which made Rossweisse burst into laughter.

"In any case, I'm glad I married you, you seem too innocent to lie or deceive anyone and from what you've shown me I shouldn't have any regrets. You're a great man, Issei, any girl would like you as their boyfriend, or, husband, in this case. I'll be sure you don't have any regrets about me either." She took hid face in her hands and kissed him.

Who said love took a long time to develop?

* * *

A few hours after they woke up Issei was called by Odin.

Once he was in front of the chief deity Issei took note of the sword at Odin's hip.

"Good day young man. I trust you enjoyed yourselves last night, judging by the sound." His words made Issei's face heat for what felt like the fiftieth time today alone.

"Oh youth! How sweet you can be… Moving on, you may have Surtr's sword and his soul, but you do not have his fighting expertise, you will have to train if you want to have a chance at being King of Muspelheim, the Fire Giants respect one thing, and that is strength. Luckily for you, you're in Asgard, home of Valhalla, the Hall of the Fallen, where the best warriors rest, and me, Odin, God of Warriors." Issei felt a shiver run down his spine, he didn't know what he was in for but for some reason he was a giddy as a child during Christmas.

"I don't have enough time to fully train you everyday but I can give you a basic idea, from there you will try and put into practice what I'm teaching you, using the Einherjar, they'll rough you up pretty nicely." Odin finished with a laugh, Issei also bagan chuckling, worriedly that is.

"So, first lesson, we'll start with the basics. Dealing with an unarmored swordsman. Obviously they have many weak-spots, expect people like this to either be cocky or extremely fast..." And so Issei spent hours learning all about what to expect from an unarmored opponent and then putting it in practice with the Einherjar, again spending hours fighting against one or multiple opponents, although he could barely deal with two…

Issei lumbered towards the room he was staying in, he was full of bruises and small cuts, Odin wasn't lying when he said that he would get roughed up.

Finally reaching his room, Issei took off his clothes and went straight for the bath to get off the dried sweat and to soothe his aching muscles. Jumping into the hot water made him aware however that those small cuts really sting.

"Fucking shit..." He cursed every time he scrubbed at a cut.

Having finally finished cleaning himself, Issei had time to dwell on what exactly was happening around him. It was strange, even for him, how easily he was taking all of this, knowing what responsibilities he had ahead of him and how… odd… all of this was. He was beginning to doubt himself and the people around him.

"I see the Einherjar didn't go easy on you, those meat-heads only think about fighting, eating, and drinking." Rossweisse's voice brought him out of his thoughts. She was lightly dressed in a night-gown, sitting by the door. "Let me check your wounds."

* * *

"That stings." Issei grimaced. He had gotten out of the bath and was now sitting on the bed letting Rossweisse tend to his wounds.

"Of course it does, some of these are pretty deep, not deep enough to be a problem but still deep. Don't worry, they won't scar, none of your wounds ever will." Issei grumbled in reply, he would have said something but his mind was slowly shutting down, sleep being at the top of his "to-do list".

Once Rossweisse was finished applying… whatever it was that she was applying, Issei immediately fell down.

"And here I was hoping for some happy newly-weds time together." Rossweisse sighed. She slowly moved Issei until his head was on the pillow and got in bed next to him, covering both of them. _Well, this is nice as well._ She thought gazing at his sleeping face.

* * *

The next day went mostly the same, his ass getting kicked by veteran warriors and then sitting in the tub contemplating what exactly it was that he was doing. While Rossweisse tended to his wounds, his phone surprisingly began to ring. _I have reception? Here? Come to think of it there was also Internet here, I did check the weather but at the time I didn't think it was strange._ Leaving his thoughts aside Issei looked at the phone and saw that it was his mother calling him.

"Yes?… Ah, I see… Okay… That's good… Okay, see you then… Bye."

"Who was it?" Rossweisse said, applying the mystery substance to his wounds again.

"My parents, the roads have been cleared and they're going to be back by tomorrow evening."

"Oh…" She was saddened by the news. He would still need to come to train but he couldn't be gone for too long so the time they could spend together was very small, soon school will also start for both of them again, leaving them with even less time.

"By the way. How come I have reception here, of all places?" Unless he was under the influence of some drugs and he was actually still on Earth, there was no way he should have received that call just now.

Rossweisse sighed, how they had come to have cell phone service in Asgard was a long story that involved Odin and several library and internet cafe's bans. She decided to leave it for another day. "You don't want to know." She replied with a defeated voice.

"There. All done. Come tomorrow morning and you won't have even a scratch on you."

"Thanks, Rossweisse." Issei said before he went into bed.

"Oh no you don't!" Seeing Issei close his eyes Rossweisse quickly pounced on him. "Since we'll be seeing each other less I'll need you to refresh my memory about… certain aspects of… married life." She said with a voice he swore was made of pure sin while she ground their pelvises together.

Normally Issei would have jumped at the chance but right now his whole body was aching and he only wanted to rest. "Can't we do this tomorrow morning?"

"No. We won't have enough time, you'll go train as soon as you wake up and you'll have to leave early to go back home. Now is my last chance to spend some time with you."

"Fine." Issei sighed. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Come tomorrow evening and Issei was back at home. At Odin's orders the Einherjar went all out on him, he had bruises and small cuts all over his body but they were taken care of by Odin and a couple other sorcerers. Now he was enjoying a hot shower back home. _I hope whoever invented the shower f_ _ound_ _eternal happiness._ Issei sighed feeling the soothing touch of the hot water.

After the shower, while Issei was watching some TV show, the door was suddenly unlocked, the only people who had the key were Issei and his parents so it wasn't hard to figure out who unlocked it.

"Welcome home." Issei said getting up from the couch to greet his parents.

"We're back." His mother and father said from the doorway. "Anything happened while we were gone?"

"Nope."

* * *

A/N: I'm not even going to make any excuses. I have the next chapter almost ready, expect it soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Issei wasn't one for over-training, and while Odin and everyone else did push him until he was ready to collapse, he never actually did collapse after their training sessions, so when he felt his feet give from under him, he knew something was wrong.

* * *

Rossweisse burst into the room where she had been told Issei was taken after he fell down. She received news that while doing his usual training with the Einherjar he suddenly collapsed. Over-training could have been a cause, the Einherjar and Odin were strict teachers but they would have never overworked him, and Issei himself wasn't such a training nut that he would do it willingly. There was also the fact that it had been a year since his training regime began so the possibility was getting slimmer and slimmer.

"Rossweisse, you didn't have to come right now, you were still working on that paper of yours, right?" Odin said from a chair near Issei's bed. Speaking of Issei, he seemed to be asleep, deeply so, he wasn't even stirring, if not for the rise and fall of his chest she would have thought he died.

"Of course I had to come, he's my husband!" Rossweisse rushed to Issei's side and looked at his face, brushing a few strands of hair from his face. They had grown close in the year since Issei had first came here. _His hair has gotten pretty long now_. She remembered how he had come to the decision to let it grow. It was about three months ago.

" _I see the time spent with the Einherjar has done you some good." Rossweisse spoke running a hand over his chest and stomach. He had gained a little muscle in the last nine months, he was still slim and would look average with clothes on, but naked, as he was right now, there was definitely some mass and definition there, something Rossweisse definitely appreciated. "Not sure about the hair however."_

" _I just haven't had the time to go get a haircut, between going to school, preparing for the high school entrance exams, training with the best warriors the north has ever seen and visiting you when I have free time. Well, you get the idea."_ It's not even that long. _Issei thought bringing a strand in front of his face, it barely reached his lips. "You know what? I think I'm not even going to cut it anymore. It doesn't bother me and I can just keep it in ponytail or something when I train."_

" _Hmm… You with long hair… Sorry, can't really think of how that would look. Probably ridiculous." Rossweisse chuckled._

" _Oh shut it, you!" Issei said taking her by the arms and flipping their position until he was above her. He stared at her for a good while, taking in the sight that was her flushed, naked, sweaty form._

" _Are you gonna do anything up there or will you just stare?" Rossweisse challenged with a sultry smirk. Issei smirked himself and went down to kiss her._

Since their schedules were so different they had very little time for themselves, about two days every fortnight, usually in the weekends, while it made the time they spent _very_ enjoyable it left them with little else to do besides talk for hours and… _Now's not the time to think about that._ They would have enough time soon, once Issei was admitted into a high school she would apply for a job there. She had thought pretty far ahead. She knew Issei was strong, no matter what was happening to him, he would be fine. That didn't mean she wasn't going to ask what was wrong with him however.

Before she could even open her mouth to ask, Odin already began to explain everything to her.

"Like you heard he collapsed while training. Just like I anticipated, it took a year for him to truly be one with his soul." Of course, just because he explained that didn't mean she understood.

"I'm sorry, Odin-sama, but I can't even begin to understand what you mean."

Odin sighed. "His and Surtr's soul are finally becoming one. It will take a while, around two weeks to be exact, we'll have to keep a close eye on him. I will see what I can do about his parents."

"What does that mean for Issei? Will he be in pain? Will he still be the Issei I know?" Odin smirked at Rossweisse's words, it seemed these two have really grown close to each other.

"Something like this hasn't happened in centuries, perhaps even thousands of years. I don't know much myself, all I can do is speculate. From what Issei has said, Surtr has truly died, only his power remains— _And his curse—_ so the chance that his personality being massively changed is low, there could be one or two changes but like I said, I'm not sure myself. As for the question of pain, well, I'd imagine so, his soul will have to accept all of Surtr's former power, his life-force itself will change and shift. There is nothing for us to do but wait." Rossweisse stared with wide eyes at Odin. She looked back at Issei and her eyes softened. Brushing a few strands from his face she leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. _Wake up soon, Issei_.

 _Fire._

 _Anger._

 _Rage._

 _Wrath._

 _It burned._

 _Everything burned._

 _The tree was burning._

 _The golden hall was aflame._

 _An old man's corpse in the jaws of a giant gray wolf._

 _His hands were covered in blood. He could see people below him. They were small. Puny. Insignificant. Without purpose. He could kill them for good and none would care._

 _No!_

 _They were not insignificant! That was Ulfric. That was Bjorn. Those were all people he knew, people he had grown close to, people who helped him become who he was._

 _Wait. Who even was he?_

 _Was he the giant with blood on his hands? Or was he… was he…? How did he even know those people?_

 _The fire rose around him. It devoured everything. He roared. Why?_

As Issei stirred Rossweisse wiped the sweat from his forehead, he had been like this for some time, five days in fact. He would whimper sometimes and stir, his skin was very hot to the touch, she thought it might actually be a fever but that thought went about as fast as it came. She was really tired. A God of Fire suffering from fever? She really needed to rest.

As Issei calmed down Rossweisse took his hand in hers and sat back. Her eyelids were so heavy.

"She's been here for a week, shouldn't we do something Odin-dono?" Göndul said looking at the Chief God next to her.

"They are both in a very delicate situation right now. They need each other, even if Issei isn't aware of it she's there for him and it shows. He is calm, much calmer than I expected. But this was the easy part. The hard part comes now." Odin said looking at the sleeping Valkyrie and her husband.

 _Fire._

 _Once again, it was fire._

 _He had seen this._

 _It must be the thousandth time he sees it._

 _The tree burning. The hall aflame. All the worlds in chaos._

 _And he was to blame._

 _He killed that man. The man with the horn._

 _He had killed many more._

 _And now once again he saw the old man, the gray wolf, the giant serpent, and the small people below him. All looked at him with determination. He knew why. He knew who._

 _But he didn't._

 _He didn't know why he did what he did. And he didn't know who he was._

 _The fire engulfed everything once again. That burning fire. It would burn him as well, so hot he thought he would die. But he never did._

"Odin-sama, it's been two weeks already, when will Issei wake up?" Rosseisse spoke, her voice barely a whisper, she had bags under her eyes, her hair had lost it's beautiful shine and her eyes spoke of how tired she was.

"Thirteen days to be exact. I can feel that the process is almost done, by tomorrow he should wake up." Rossweisse sighed and tried to relax. "Get some sleep child. You need it. I will take care of him." Rossweisse looked to protest but her grandmother Göndul placed a hand on her shoulder. She could rest easy couldn't she? Issei was in good hands, and when she woke up, he would as well.

Once Rossweisse was gone Göndul looked at Odin. "I know what I said. But from what I'm feeling, his life-force is extremely unstable, the hardest part is about to come. I just didn't want her to be here when it begins." Odin said as if he was reading her thoughts.

As if he had heard them Issei began to stir and toss around. He grunted and whimpered, flailing about. The room grew hotter and hotter until Odin decided to use his magic to cool it down. Seeing that Issei began to stir too much, Odin called some of the Einherjar to hold him down.

Suddenly a spine-chilling sound came from the flailing young man. A mix between a roar and a cry. It sent shivers down everyone's spine.

 _Fire._

 _The serpent. The wolf. The army of small men. Everything was there._

 _He was there._

 _The fire rose for what must have been the ten thousandth time. And the pain that came with it._

 _With time he began to realize something. Even though the fire was around him, the pain, that pain he came to associate with burning came from inside him._

 _With even more time he came to understand what that pain meant. It was anger. Anger at himself. Why was he angry?_

 _For the first time he looked around him and understood. The fire. He was the fire. He had been the fire all along._

 _He was always the one who killed them, those men. He was always the one who burned the tree. That ancient, beautiful tree._

 _The fire grew and he saw white._

 _Opening his eyes he saw a great plain in front of him. Above him the shade of a great ash-tree. Behind him the greatness of mountains. To his left a massive ocean. To his right forests._

" _What is this?" He looked behind him, the great mountains were there and before them the great ash-tree which he sat under. He looked up at the tree and understood. He knew. He remembered._

I know who I am.

His eyes opened once again. This time however he was back, back where he belonged. He looked around and saw Odin, and his grandmother-in-law Göndul, surrounding him were also five men from the Einherjar. He looked past them all to see Rossweisse standing in the door-frame, she looked shocked and scared at first but as soon as he focused his eyes on her she jumped straight towards him and hugged him tightly, if not for the daily training he was sure his bones would have been crushed.

"I-I was so scared. I-I was s-sleeping. And-and you began screaming. I thought something went wrong. I-I..."

"It's fine, Rossweisse. I'm fine. What exactly happened? I remember sparing and then I saw fire for a long time and Valhalla was burning, everything was burning. And then there was this weird place, where there were mountains and..." Before he could try and remember more, Odin began speaking.

"I will explain to the best of my ability. Issei Hyoudou, your soul had merged with what remained of Surtr's soul, his ambitions, his pain, everything that made him who he was, it took a year but it seemed the process finally finished. You have been in what could be called a coma for the last two weeks. Thankfully you choose a good time." Odin chuckled as Issei and everyone else looked at him like he grew a second head. "What I meant was that it overlapped with a period when you weren't required to go to school anymore."

 _Right. Winter vacation. It has been a year since I first came here. That also means I've spent my entire vacation doing nothing. And here I was hoping to spend some time with Rose. Crap… I also have very little time until entrance exams…_

"I see… I think I'll skip on training for today and also for the next month, entrance exams are coming, I've lost quite a lot of time and my friends want us to get into a really strict high school." Issei said slowly getting up.

"Wait! You-you need to rest. Your body-" Rossweisse said trying to push him back onto the bed.

"-Is fine. Issei Hyoudou should now be better than ever. With time he will gain Surtr's legendary strength and power." Odin cut her off before she could make the poor boy spend another two weeks in bed, she had been worried sick even though they tried to convince her that he will be fine. "I'm not sure how your body will respond to these changes exactly, but you can expect a rather impressive growth spurt. Surtr was a giant after all. Thankfully you're at the age where these things are common so no one will bat an eye if you suddenly gain height in the following months."

"Thank you. I'll go home now. I need to get ready for school and for the entrance exams." Issei said getting up and extending a hand to Rossweisse. Once she was up he hugged her. "And thank you as well Rossweisse. For staying at my side this whole time." Rossweisse smiled before kissing him deeply on the lips.

"It's the wife's job to be near her husband after all." Issei smiled and returned her kind words with a kiss of his own.

"I'm so sorry! I wanted to spend my vacation with you here but… Well…" Rossweisse looked towards her grandmother. Göndul sighed and nodded, which made Rossweisse light up.

"What is it?"

"Well, I was just thinking. You need to pass the entrance exams to a strict high school, right? And your wife, me, has quite the reputation as the youngest to ever finish collage here in Asgard. I wonder if _she_ can help you study?" Rossweisse smirked.

"I have a feeling studying is the last thing in my dear wife's mind." Issei smirked as well.

"Maybe..." Rossweisse replied with a sultry look.

"Yes, yes. You can flirt on your way home. It's almost time for you to meet your parents, Rossweisse will tell you what to say if they ask questions." Odin said waving his hand in the air as if to drive away the lovey-dovey atmosphere the two created.

* * *

"Pretty simple story, but how did he manage to mimic my voice? Actually, I don't want to know." Right now Issei and Rossweisse were sitting at a train station near Issei's home, they were waiting for his parents to come pick them up. During the wait, Rossweisse explained to Issei what cover-up story Odin and the others created so that he wouldn't get in trouble for being away the entire winter vacation. It was simple really, he was at a friends house across the country, the same friend he had been visiting for the past year, and whenever he would get a call someone else would pick up his phone and speak in his name. That slightly scared him. Who knows what they could have said?

Seeing his parent's car pull up Issei rose from his seat and took Rossweisse's hand out of habit.

"When you said you were bringing a friend we weren't expecting this." His father remarked with a smile.

"Ah, yeah, sorry. This is Rossweisse, I met her a year ago when I was out looking for a video game. She's a foreigner but has lived in Japan for some time now so she knows the language very well." _Well, that was easy enough_

"While you were looking for a video game? She doesn't seem like the type to play games." His mother said. Not because she was suspicious, it was more the way Rossweisse looked and behaved. She indeed didn't look or was the type to care for video games.

"I was looking for a book I needed in my collage classes." Rossweisse answered before he could.

"You're already in collage? But Issei said his friend is not much older than him." Issei's mother said surprised.

"Yes. I am two years older than Issei but I skipped a lot of grades and managed to finish collage. All I have to do now is give my last paper to be graded and published." Rossweisse said with a smile, it was clear she was trying to impress his parents on their first meeting. Cheeky little Valkyrie.

"Oh my! Already finished collage at that age? You're very impressive! I hope some of your mind rubs off on our son, he could use it." _Something else has already rubbed on me plenty of times._ As if reading his thoughts Rossweisse hit him in the stomach with her elbow. Realizing she was embarrassed Issei began laughing.

"What's so funny?" Rossweisse said pouting.

"Nothing, nothing." Issei said trying to suppress his laughter.

The rest of the short drive home was filled with such interactions and small talk shared between Rossweisse and his parents.

* * *

"Come. Hope you two didn't have dinner already because we made quite a lot." Issei's mother ushered them into the kitchen that also doubled as a living room.

Once again small talk was shared between Rossweisse and his parents with the occasional quip from Issei. Until the talk began steering into a direction not exactly pleasant for Issei.

"There used to be rumors surrounding him at school that he and his two other friends would peep at the girls and openly leer at them. Thankfully they stopped." When Rossweisse turned to look at Issei he simply shrugged.

"Hmm… I wonder why?" This time it was Issei's turn to look at Rossweisse and when he did he saw her wearing a teasing smirk. He sighed and resumed his eating. He wasn't going to get away easily it seemed.

"It's fine for a teenager to show interest in such things but discretion is still something that they should understand." And it seemed like the conversation was going back towards boring territory, tuning out his parents Issei resumed eating.

By the time he was finished eating Issei noticed that his parents and Rossweisse were much closer, especially his mother who now showed her a photo album from when he was a child.

"Is that something moms have to do? Is it written in some sort of mom code?" Issei asked his father who shrugged and took a drink. Issei sighed and excused himself from the table. He really needed a shower.

"So it wasn't always like that." Rossweisse said with pink cheeks looking at a certain photo of child Issei.

"How is what, sweety?" Quickly shifting her gaze from the photo Rossweisse tried to find something to cover up her staring at a small Issei's… parts.

"H-His hair, it wasn't always like that… U-Umm, wild and… long..." Issei mother chuckled at her stuttering. She was so cute.

"Of course. This was back when he still let me comb his hair, now he just leaves it flowing like that. It's his hair so he can do whatever he wants with it but I still say this suits him better." Rossweisse sighed, she was safe, for now.

"It's getting late. I see Issei has already left." Issei's mother said looking around.

"He went to take a shower." Issei father spoke from the couch.

"Well I'll get the guest room ready for you dear."

"There's no need mother. I can sleep with Issei." Issei's mother stared wide eyed at the silver-haired beauty as did his his father.

"I-Is that the kind of relationship you have with Issei?" Issei's mother spoke trying her best to control herself.

"Y-Yes..." Rossweisse said fidgeting slightly.

"Oh we're so glad! Issei's always been a weird child so we weren't sure what to expect. Please take care of him dear, he is worth your trouble." Rossweisse smiled and bowed at her yet-to-be-aware mother-in-law.

"Of course. I shall take care of him just like he took care of me." She rose from her bow and was taken by surprise when her mother-in-law hugged her.

"Thank you." Rossweisse looked at Issei's father and saw him smile warmly, she was happy that her future parents-in-law received her so well.

"It's been a pleasure to meet you, mother, father." She said, bowing once more and went on to find Issei, a rather easy task once she saw the door open to his room, with him inside putting on a shirt.

"You do know I'm gonna take that off first chance that I get, right?" Issei looked towards the door and found Rossweisse leaning on the door frame staring at his clothed body.

How could he get back at her for such shameless teasing? "And I trust you know as well that I've slept for two entire weeks, I've never had so much energy." _Let's see you try and do better._

"Oh, heavens no! I can't wait in fact." _Alright,_ _underestimating your opponent, that's a big no-no, Issei._

Thankfully their teasing battle came to an end when Rossweisse closed the door and went to take a shower herself. Leaving Issei alone.

By the time she came back Issei was already in bed. _So much for all of that boasting about energy. He's totally out of it… Can't really blame him though…_ Deciding to punish him Rossweisse crept up until she was right by Issei's side, she bent down and went to whisper something in his ear but before she could Issei had already taken her by the arms and thrown her on the bed, positioning himself above her.

"You let your guard down. Is that really fine for a battle-maiden? Looks like I'll have to teach you all of it from the beginning."

"Don't be too rough now, it's been a while since I've had a proper battle." Both of them smiled and started to devour each others mouths. It had indeed been a while.

Not wasting any time on pleasantries, they both undressed the other as fast as they could and were at each others mouth before one could blink. Issei started to travel down, kissing Rossweisse's soft flesh. Beginning at her jaw, he traveled down towards her neck, sucking at a certain weak spot he learned she had, even lower he went, towards her collarbone where he bit down lightly drawing a gasp from her.

A lesson Issei had learned during their passionate moments was that Rossweisse enjoyed foreplay a great deal. That was exactly why he was trying his best to bring her to the edge using only his fingers and mouth.

"Ah!" And it worked wonderfully, every time he switched to another part of her body or tried something new she would gasp and writhe under him. By now he knew most of her weak spots.

Under her jaw. The skin covering her main artery, which incidentally was his favorite spot to tease because he could feel the blood flowing through there. It made him realize that she was more real than himself in some way. She was alive. She was beautiful. And he was making love to her. He knew most of her weak spots, yes, but most of the time he would forget about them while in her embrace and be just as surprised as she was when he found them again.

"...C-Close..." Rossweisse managed to breath out between pants and sharp gasps, she felt the coil winding and reaching it's climax, when it finally unfurled she grabbed Issei's head and pressed him into her large chest, she didn't even know what erogenous zone he was currently pleasuring but she didn't care, she wanted to be as close to him as possible in that moment of nirvana.

"Aren't you overly-eager, I was getting to the best part." Issei said rising from between her legs, Rossweisse breathed heavily and sat up on her butt. With speed she didn't know she was capable of in that moment she took his member in her soft hands and began to stroke it agonizingly slow.

While she had many spots that could drive her mad, Issei was more straight forward. Just like he knew her weak spots, she knew his. Letting go of the burning-hot rod between her hands, Rossweisse then ran a finger all the way up his shaft, from the base, to the tip.

Needless to say Issei was being tortured, she gave him just enough to keep him on edge but never more. Those slow movements of her soft and delicate hands drove him mad. The torture continued when she ran her tongue up his shaft in the same manner as she did with her finger.

"…R-Rose… please..." Issei almost growled. He was so hard it hurt. He was on the point of exploding and he didn't know how much more he could take.

"Please what?" She spoke with a smug expression and a teasing, faux innocent tone.

Issei wanted to say something but he couldn't, he was too far gone, he could barely hold himself back anymore. When Rossweisse took the tip of his shaft in her mouth he lost all control, releasing everything he held back. To his surprise and slight irritation Rossweisse didn't even seem surprised. She was humming lowly, the vibrations of her voice making it even worse for him, in the best way.

"Who's overly-eager now?" She said after releasing his cock with a sinful pop. Now that both of them were lubed up they could properly begin. Issei guided his saliva-coated cock towards the entrance of her sex and slid in easily, the entrance making them both sigh in pleasure.

They had teased each other enough, now it was time to let themselves go. And they did, until the early hours of the morning they made up for all the times they had to rush and leave each other frustrated, now they had no time constrains and could enjoy the presence of the other.

Issei was laying on his back, Rossweisse sitting at his side, her legs entwined with his own. When he looked at the clock on his nightstand Issei chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Rossweisse asked propping herself on her elbows to get a better look at him

"That." Issei pointed towards the analog clock which read 5 AM. When the realization struck her Rossweisse began to laugh, Issei joined in as well. They had certainly made up for all the time they had been away from one another.

"Well. Time well spent in my opinion." Rossweisse said with a satisfied smile and a teasing look.

"Agreed."

It wasn't like they were tired either, while a normal human could go a few days at best without any sleep, a Valkyrie, technically a demi-god, could probably go a week without any sleep and still be fine. Issei was a god so in theory he didn't even need sleep. Still, sleep was one of the greatest pleasures in life so he had no intention of staying up all night. Not unless Rose was there with him to keep his busy.

Issei's parents weren't awake yet since it was a weekend so they both enjoyed the peace and quiet of staying in bed early in the morning not feeling even the slightest bit of shame from wasting such a good opportunity to start the day early.

Issei took the opportunity and went to take a shower to get off the dried sweat off himself.

When the door to the bathroom was opened he knew exactly who it was that followed him there. "You know, if you join me then all the effort I've put into cleaning myself until now was useless."

"And do you care?"

"No."

"Then it's fine."

A/N: " _The tree burning. The hall aflame. All the worlds in chaos._

 _And he was to blame."_ Didn't mean for this to rhyme but whatever.

Thanks for all the reviews and favorites and follows and stuff.

In any case, like I expected, some of you pointed out that Issei and Rossweisse moved too fast, something I also pointed out myself in the story. That was on purpose. It was a shotgun marriage, it wasn't supposed to take a long time. The marriage aside I felt that both of them had no reason to not accept it. Issei, while confused about most of the stuff happening around him isn't someone who strikes me as the type to wait for 'the one' and it wasn't like he had anything against Rose. Speaking of Rossweisse, for her I tried to make it as obvious as I could.

While the marriage has a reason, mostly to do with keeping the Fire Giants in check. It will be quite a while before they have a role in the story. Since Rossweisse is a Valkyrie and her relationship with Issei is a genuine one it will help in diplomatic relations between the Aesir and the Fire Giants. Basically, it's all politics. That is also why Issei is being trained in Asgard and is left to his own devices. He's not a leader yet, and certainly not a King, no matter how much he or other people try and say he is. Odin wants to keep him close to himself so that he would be easier to talk to. As a Fire Giant and God, he would act as the bridge between the two. I realize it may not make much sense but I was never good at putting my ideas into words. Perhaps because my vocabulary is lacking and so are my writing skills, all I have are ideas.

I should also make this clear. Issei doesn't have the Boosted Gear. While I like when characters are OP, I don't trust in my story-telling skills enough to make him just shit on everyone yet still keep the story exciting and interesting. Think about characters like Alucard. The reason it works in Hellsing is because the fighting is never the main focus, it's the journey towards that ending, where Alucard realizes that like the last two times he lost everything only to be reminded that in fact he hasn't. The first time he lost his domain and everything in it. The second, he lost the woman he loved. Now he still has his Master and Seras. You'll need to read the manga to understand what I'm getting at but basically, what I'm trying to say is that OP characters that are also interesting are hard to write.

This will be the last time I explain something in such detail. One of my pet-peeves is when authors try and justify the way characters act and the way the story flows. It ruins the fun for me. You wrote it that way for a reason, no need to elaborate on the characters motivations and why that power-up makes sense in the A/N. Unless the story is truly all over the place I see no reason to try and explain something to the point where the whole fun of reading and finding out yourself is gone.

In any case. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll see you next time.


	4. Chapter 4

"Let's see… Hyoudou… Hyoudou… Ah, there!… What the…?!"

"Something wrong Ise?" Issei didn't say anything and just pointed at the giant board where the results of the entrance exams were displayed. Rossweisse followed his finger until her eyes read his name, he was to extreme left of the entire board and quite up there. He had gotten the highest score out of all the people who took the entrance exams, a couple more points and he would have a perfect score.

"Yo! Issei! Did you get it?" One Issei friends she assumed, shouted, seeing Issei standing there with his mouth hanging open. "Hey! Earth to Ise! You there?" Matsuda said waving a hand in front of Issei's face. Issei once again said nothing and pointed at the board.

"…You serious…? How…?"

"I… had a good teacher… I was expecting to do well but I never thought I'd score better than Motohama…" Issei said trying to regain his bearings.

"Dude, you didn't only do better than Motohama, you did better than the entire school."

"Indeed, this is quite the achievement Issei, I wouldn't be surprised if that is one of the best scores in Japan, Kuoh is a pretty harsh academically after all. You said you had a good teacher, who exactly is this miracle worker?" Motohama said fixing his glasses.

"Miracle worker?! Hey, fuck you, it's not like I'm a total idiot."

Suddenly Matsuda pulled both of them by the neck and began whispering.

"Gentleman I think we've strayed from our path. While we were having that bit of banter, a total hottie sat next to Issei and none of us noticed!" Issei rose an eyebrow and tried to look around himself, quite an awkward action considering Matsuda still had his arm around Issei's neck, the only person that sat next to him who could be considered a hottie was…

"You mean, Rose?" At this both of his friends eyes snapped to him faster than he could blink. As soon as their wide eyes focused on him Issei realized his mistake.

"H-How do you know her?" _Shit, well, let's think about something here… I got it!_

"She's a collage student that helped me study, sorry to disappoint you but she's already taken, she's married to my… cousin" _That was close… but knowing these two I'm not sure even that would stop them._

"Ise? Is something the matter, dear?" And of course Rossweisse chose this moment to speak with the sweetest tone she could muster.

"It's nothing Rose, I was just talking with some friends."

"Ah, okay, did they pass as well? If they did then we need to celebrate by having some cake, if they didn't we need to drown their sorrows with some cake!" At Rose's cheeky smile Issei felt his heart skip a beat, he smiled lightly before he was pulled back by his friends again.

"You weren't lying to us were you? You seem awfully close with her."

"I wasn't, I swear!" Matsuda and Motohama didn't look convinced however and when Issei turned around to talk to Rossweisse they both nodded towards each other. They would get to the bottom of this.

* * *

"So, you're Matsuda and you're Motohama, what places did you two manage to get?" Rossweisse said, Issei had explained to her what they were and why she couldn't act too friendly with him, she had reluctantly agreed, somehow.

"I got 68, not bad for someone like me." Matsuda said rubbing the back of his bald head with a lecherous smile, it was clear where his gaze was, Issei tried his best to keep his cool, sipping on his coffee with a tight lipped smile.

"I do hope you realize that last place was 85, you're quite towards the bottom. As for me I managed to get into the top 20, I got 18th place." Motohama said with a smile pushing his glasses up. "But even that pales in comparison to Issei. Could you please enlighten us as to how you managed to make this average-at-best pervert to achieve such academic feats." Motohama spoke looking towards Rossweisse.

"Wow Motohama, you seem pretty mad, that was quite the loaded sentence." Issei said sweat dropping.

Rossweisse thought about the question, there were a couple of reasons Issei had gotten such a high score, the foremost of them being that they had diligently studied for the past two weeks, and the fact that he was slowly becoming a god, literally, but she couldn't tell them that. "Well, I have been tutoring Issei for the past month, I am quite a _harsh_ teacher." Issei began coughing violently and both of his friends were drooling, most likely imagining Rossweisse as a sexy teacher. _I guess I should be thankful, seems those two didn't catch onto anything else while in their little fantasies._

"I'm going to the toilet." Issei rose from his seat and left. As soon as he was out of sight both Matsuda and Motohama looked towards Rossweisse.

"So, what exactly is your relationship with our dear Ise, he isn't the type to lie and the explanation he gave us was a total lie." Motohama said propping his head on his arms and leaning forward on his elbows.

"I'm a relative of sorts." Rossweisse said sipping her drink with the most casual expression she could muster.

"Bullshit, Issei doesn't have foreign relatives."

"I said of sorts didn't I? I'm his adopted cousin from his mothers side, he was worried you two might try to put the moves on me if you found out I was single." Matsuda lit up at this and spoke up next.

"You're single!? Oh man, lucky us. He-"

"Quiet, Matsuda. You're lying again. Issei's mother doesn't have siblings. Believe me I looked through his family tree in case he did have a cousin our age. The only cousin he has is some student in Tokyo, he's in collage. I have to admit, I almost believed him at first but you two seem too close for there to not be something between you." _He's sharp I'll give him that, but I won't give up._

"Well, I did spend the last month around him, there was no way we wouldn't grow closer." Tension was quickly rising between the two with Matsuda looking at the two of them with a confused face.

"Kuh! Issei you lucky bastard!" Motohama said clenching his fist. "Why couldn't I have a hot chick tutoring me!" At his words Rossweisse relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief, if he wasn't such a massive pervert she was sure this guy could become a good detective, he did have the talent of picking people apart. _People,_ not demi-gods, even if he was good she was a proud Valkyrie, a shield-maiden without equal, she could sit through any amount of tension and keep a straight face.

"You guys finished? Me and Rossweisse have to go home for dinner-although we've already spoiled our appetite-so we'll see each other later." Issei payed his and Rossweisse's share of the bill and went home, leaving Matsuda and Motohama alone. As the two left Motohama watched them with suspicion in his eyes.

"They're really suspicious, those two."

"You have interesting friends, Issei." Rose said taking Issei's hand in hers.

"You think so? Most people find them annoying or outright terrible. Most of the girls in our middle school hate their guts, they also hate me, even thought I haven't given them much reason to in the last year."

"Anyway, let's go home."

"Yeah..."

* * *

Issei fixed his uniform for what must have been the hundredth time. Rossweisse looked at him and sighed. Apparently the uniform they've given him was a bit on the small side, the after-effects of the fusion between his soul and Surtr's were beginning to show. Before, she was slightly taller than him, now he was taller than her by a couple inches, the height increase was fast but not unwelcome, she confessed that she found it quite pleasing to have to look up at him for once. With each passing day it was clear that he would start to resemble the classic Norseman, even his face was starting to define itself, slowly losing the pudgy, baby-fat most preteens had before puberty took care of it. She suspected that by the end of his growth period he would tower over most people in height and resemble a half-foreigner more than a full-blood Japanese.

"Take off your blazer if it's that uncomfortable, we're still not at school so you don't have to wear everything just yet." Issei nodded and did as she suggested, taking off his blazer, leaving him in the white shirt that came with the uniform. Rossweisse bit her lip as she saw the material of the shirt stretch to accommodate his lean physique. It was clear that his height wasn't the only thing that was growing, now that she looked closer Issei wasn't this big before, he was more lean than anything else. It wasn't a very big change, just enough to be noticeable but it was still there, and she _loved_ it.

"So did you manage to get a job here, isn't it quite strict on the teachers as well?"

"The wonders of the Internet. I took a test in the field I wished to teach in, I scored pretty well I'm assuming, since they wanted me on-board the next day. That and they probably read my resume and saw that I was over-qualified."

"Still, it's nice to have you here, I appreciate that you've come all the way here, away from your family and friends." Issei said with a smile.

"Aren't you charming." Rossweisse said with a teasing smile. "But it's fine. I wanted a job anyway, and this is pretty nice, not only do I have quite the salary, but I'm also near my dear husband for most of the day." She spoke, intertwining her arm with his and kissing him on the cheek. "Plus, as you know, my parents are always busy and had very little time to watch over me, that's why I lived with my grandmother. And friends… well… you know how it was…" And he knew, since Rossweisse skipped many grades she had very little interaction with most of her classmates, most of them thinking she was an arrogant child. He took her hand in his and squeezed. Rossweisse knew what this gesture meant and smiled, for all of the stupid things Odin does and says, this had to be one of his better ideas, she couldn't think of a better husband. Once again she stretched up to him and kissed his cheek.

As they entered the courtyard of the school Rossweisse left Issei, she had to introduce herself to the board of directors and get everything started on her new job so she couldn't spend any more time with him for now. Issei looked around the yard of the school trying to map everything out. The school was recently turned co-ed so there were a lot of girls around. _Matsuda and Motohama are going to have a field day._

Something caught his eye, there, standing out like sore thumbs were some strange black shapes on a wall of wood. Focusing on the shapes he found them to be the lower bodies of his best friends. _Speak of the Devil. Or, devils in this case._

"You guys are true professionals you know that." Issei said in a whisper, squatting down behind the two.

"Of course, I pride myself on finding the best spots." Matsuda said swining his butt around like a dog would wag his tail in happiness.

"Whatever you say…" Issei said looking around himself, to his right was a forest that he had seen encircle the whole Academy, a little bit in front of him was a Victorian-style building and to his left was the School building itself.

A strange feeling washed over him suddenly, like an itch in the back of his head. He tried to keep his calm and look around, whatever it was, it was coming from the Victorian building. Turing his gaze towards it, he saw a girl with long red hair and blue-green eyes, her features were European, most likely Nordic or possible Anglo, Irish people tend to have red hair but this was an almost unnatural shade of red. The feeling in the back of his head intensified when his eyes met hers. He could see something. Well, more like one would see something when they tried to picture that thing, a vision almost. He could see wings, black leathery wings, a red, destructive power. As he focused on the girl, he could see a crimson and red aura around her, she was definitely a supernatural creature, judging by the vision from just a second ago, she was most likely a Devil, a pretty powerful one considering the potency of the aura she emitted. _Right, I'll have to get used to listening to this feeling, it seems useful._

Issei's eyes left the girls and he moved on, exploring more of the Academy until it was time for the Opening Ceremony.

Rias Gremory was pretty excited and a little terrified. That boy, that first-year boy was clearly something special. When she looked into his eyes he could see fire, fire all around her, it was so strong she could almost feel it burn her skin, and he wasn't even close to her! There was also this feeling, like she was gazing upon something sacred, that usually meant there was something divine about whatever it was that she was looking at. There were two options right now. He was the descendant of some fire being. Or had a fire based Sacred Gear, there weren't many like that. She could count them on her finger and one of them already had a wielder, Dulio, The Strongest Exorcist, leaving her very little in the way of Sacred Gears that could produce such a terrifying aura.

That left only one option, he was some kind of descendant of a fire being, a Dragon was out of the question, she didn't feel anything that could lead her to think he had Dragon blood. Basically any kind of beast could be thrown out of the window, there was nothing that lead to any of them, usually there was a trace of something else in the fire, like the Phenex Clan, their fire was yellow, and one could see feathers if they concentrated on their aura enough, same with most beasts. His fire however, it was red and orange, this would falsely lead one to think it wasn't that hot, in truth it was so hot she could feel it's heat from where she was standing, at least thirty meters away from him. She had an irking feeling about his nature but it wasn't that common, gods rarely had kids and when they did, they made sure that any descendants would be true gods, he didn't have that amount of divinity to himself, while it was there it wasn't enough.

The plan was already forming in her mind, she only needed to put it into action.

* * *

School was mostly boring except for the rather nice surprise in finding that Rossweisse was teaching his class. Thankfully she was quite professional and didn't give any hint that she was anything but a teacher, although Matsuda and Motohama, who were also in his class were looking between him and Rossweisse quite intently.

In the end they didn't ask any questions but it was clear that they had no intention on giving up.

"Excuse me. I am looking for a certain Issei Hyoudou. Would he happened to be in this class?" During the last recess period, before the last class of the day a handsome blond guy appeared at the door of the classroom, the girls seemed to all have similar thoughts regarding him as they all wore the same hungry expression, one he had become acquainted with when he and Rossweisse didn't see each other for a lengthy amount of time.

"That's me. Student Council?" Issei said rising from his seat, he assumed it was the Student Council because no one else should already know his name, they probably looked through his previous results and saw that he shouldn't have score that high. No matter, he could take the test again if they were that suspicious.

"Not quite. Follow me please." At this Issei rose an eyebrow and followed the pretty boy. "I must say, you are quite physically imposing, would you mind sharing your secret with a fellow man? I have been antagonized before because of my somewhat small stature."

"Not really, I've just recently hit a growth spurt myself. The only suggestion I can give is going to the gym, although you shouldn't overdo it. You have a pretty boy face, guys like you don't look that good with lots of muscle." He wasn't exactly sure how to reply to such a question so he only repeated some advice he read in a magazine once.

"That's a shame, I do train quite extensively but I never seem to gain much muscle, sometime I even lose weight." _That's…_

"That's probably just because you eat too little, judging by your build you should aim for a little over thousand three hundred calories and eat red meat, it contains protein, I'm sure if you look it up you can come up with something that works for you."

"I see. Thank you for your advice. Ah! Looks like we've reached our destination." _So that's how it is._ This was the same Victorian building where Issei had seen the Devil girl. It was clear now what they wanted. Beside the usual training, Odin and Rossweisse had initiated him into what the Supernatural world consisted of and they ways they dealt with everyone else. Devils, as was the current case were cunning and used everything at their disposal to strike better deal and get what they wanted.

"Buchou, there's something wrong…" Koneko, Rias's rook, a third year in middle school said shivering and looking intently at the door.

"What is it Koneko?" Rias asked the obviously scared girl.

"It's screaming… Everything is screaming…" Koneko was a nekoshou, meaning her read on the world around them was very powerful, even is she was actively restraining her growth and power, nature still managed to sometimes get it's message to her, usually as whispers. That is why, when Koneko said that nature was screaming she knew she had to tread carefully. She knew why it was screaming, she had seen it first hand, the fire, a fire so powerful it could rival that of the strongest dragons.

When the door opened Koneko tried to make herself even smaller than she was, the feeling that Issei gave off was suffocating, it was like she was trying to breathe in smoke, a burning hot smoke similar to that of a cigar.

Issei raised an eyebrow when his eyes fell upon the little girl that was hiding behind the couch. He smiled trying to assure her that he wasn't dangerous.

Koneko felt the pressure being lifted off, the smoke was gone and now nature was humming. She listened with wide eyes as the song of nature increased in volume around her. Whatever this person was, he was dangerous in more ways than one.

"Please, sit. Good day. I'm Rias Gremory, president of the Occult Research Club. Tell me Issei Hyoudou, are you acquainted with the supernatural?" If Rias had tried to conceal her aura before and now, he would have played it off, thinking they were just humans. That wasn't the case, and seeing how she went straight to the point, so did he.

"I am, Gremory-san. I must say, I never expected to encounter Devils so soon." _Okay, he knows what we are, that makes things simpler_.

"Yes. This is my territory and I am it's warden. Because of this you can expect me to be quite concerned when a new variable appears. Especially when that variable is someone like you." For the most part Issei was surprised how simple it was to communicate to Devils, he had expected them to be much more hard to deal with, but he supposed that politics were the same wherever one went.

"I don't want to cause any trouble, I'm only here to attend school, so I can assure you, you won't need to worry about me, I'm not on any secret mission or what have you."

"I see. That is good to know. Although, I trust you understand that I'm still suspicious. Why this school in particular?"

"Because it's close to my house." At his words Rias began to laugh, it was such a simple response she couldn't help it. She relaxed into the couch and calmed down. It was stupid to think that someone was always telling the truth but this young man didn't seem much like the scheming type.

"I suppose I can respect a reason like that. I noticed earlier when we saw each other that you have quite the… distinct aura, since you already seem to know what we are, care to share what you yourself are? And what faction you belong to? If any?" _Right, if I say I don't belong to any faction she would most likely try and recruit me._ Issei thought, he had no intention of lying either way but he liked to keep his options open.

"I am Issei Hyoudou, Norse God of Fire, Destruction, and Regrowth, I posses the soul of Surtr and as such am his heir." A shiver ran down all of their spine, it was worse than any of them could have imagined. In front of them stood someone who, if given enough time could grow to reach the top ten strongest. Surtr was well known around the supernatural world, before his imprisonment he was among the strongest beings in the world, on par with the God-killing wolf Fenrir. In the Underworld he was even more famous, being the progenitor of Surtr the Second, The Ultimate Rook. If Issei was even half the power of Surtr the Second, they had no chance against him even with the help of the Student Council.

"I-I see. And why hasn't the Norse faction advised us that you would be here? Someone of your stature is definitely someone who shouldn't be ignored." Rias said trembling, there was no way to reincarnate him now, someone like him needed a Mutation Piece, something she already used, and she doubted he would have fitted the bishop piece.

"Umm… I understand these are just excuses at this point but… Odin is… a very busy person… I apologize if this created any inconveniences, I will take responsibility and deal with them if there are any." Rias sighed, it was well known that the Norse faction was among the most laid-back, even during the Great War the only ones who got involved were the Einherjar who wished to fight with their Christian friends, that number wasn't large, seeing as most Einherjar were great Vikings who took pride in their heritage and religion. Still, if she did a couple more favors for Issei she was sure she could work something out, while time was running out, it would still be around two or three years before she had to marry that despicable man.

"No harm done, thankfully, but I would appreciate at least a message next time, these matters can be quite sensitive, especially during a cease-fire." Some may think she was laying it on thick, some would be mostly right, there was also another reason besides the obvious. She was trying to find out what kind of person Issei Hyoudou was, if that was even his real name.

"And we would have sent a message if we thought it was necessary." A new voice said, everyone turned towards the door to see a tall, beautiful woman with silver hair and blue eyes like gemstones.

"Ah! Rose, sorry I think I lost track of time" Issei said looking at his phone to check the time, it was about time to leave and he had promised Rossweisse to meet-up with her so they could go home.

"It's fine, dear. Although I would have preferred a heads-up that you are going to talk with Rias Gremory-san. As for the message, Odin-sama thought it was unnecessary, Issei isn't someone who would stir up trouble for no reason, plus, this is his hometown." Once Rossweisse finished talking, another person entered the room-well, more like teleported in-it was a young woman with black hair, amethyst eyes and a body that could drive a man mad with lust.

"Ara~ if I had known we would be having guests I would have prepared some tea beforehand." Spoke the woman leaning her head on the palm of her hand.

"Don't worry, I'm not much of a tea fan anyway, same for Rose here." Issei spoke with a smile.

"Well, since we're all here how about we formally introduce ourselves. As you know I am Rias Gremory, Warden of Kuoh and High Class Devil" Rias said, once she was finished introducing herself the woman who had teleported in previously was next.

"My name is Akeno Himejima, Queen to Rias Gremory."

"I am Yuuto Kiba, Knight to Rias Gremory." Spoke the blond pretty boy.

"Koneko, Rias Gremory's Rook." Spoke the white haired girl that had been hiding from Issei.

"Once again I am Issei Hyoudou, Norse God and Surtr's heir." Issei said, Akeno's eyes went wide and she looked at her King who had a look of understanding, that was the same reaction they had.

"I'm Rossweisse, Valkyrie and wife of Issei Hyoudou." If they hadn't been shocked when Issei introduced himself for a second time, they certainly were now.

"Ara~ Ara~!" Akeno said in surprise, covering her mouth with her hand.

"B-But y-you don't look much older than us, and you're both in high school." Rias said, Rossweisse blushed and smiled. Yeah, the definitely moved too fast.

"It was an arranged shotgun marriage but neither of us had anything to say against it so we just went with the flow." Rossweisse confessed looking both happy and embarrassed.

"I was a horny pervert back then so you can imagine that when Odin said I was to marry one of his most valued and beautiful Valkyries I couldn't have been happier."

"Don't lie, the only thing on your mind at that time was why you were even there."

"That's what I told you, truth is I couldn't keep my eyes off you, when we first met in Valhalla I almost pissed myself from fear. There you were, in all of your silver haired glory, drinking mead from a horn and dressed in light armor, I wasn't sure if you were going to cut me down or start making fun of me." Rias hated to interrupt such a sweet interaction but she had to know something.

"You truly weren't against it? At all?" She asked addressing to Rossweisse.

"Well, it's not like I didn't have a choice but at that time I was quite upset, mostly at myself and everyone around me, even our first encounter ended poorly because of my bitterness, I then kept my eye on him to see if I was right in thinking that he was like every other man that made a move on me. Of course I was wrong, Issei was beyond confused, and awkward, in a good way. When I later found him under a tree, looking like the fate of the Universe sat upon his shoulders, I decided to apologize and break the news. Before I could even apologize he surprises me and apologizes himself even though he only wanted to talk to me and I was at fault. I was pretty desperate at that time and maybe I wasn't thinking straight but I'm glad that it happened. I have no regrets." Rias looked disappointed, their circumstances were different, she was hoping to get some advice but it seemed she would still have to go with her plan.

"I see. Thank you for coming here. I will also inform Sona of your presence here, if someone from the Student Council asks for either of you, then she probably wishes to speak with you." Rias said to the two who nodded and turned to leave.

"Good day Rias Gremory." They both said and left.

Rias sighed and fell into the couch. She wasn't sure who to thank for the laid-back attitude of the Norse faction but she was thankful. If it all went according to her plan she could grow closer to Issei Hyoudou and ask him for a favor, if it was him she was sure that he could free her, or at least help her in some way.

* * *

Over the next one and a half year everything was quiet, most of the days were spent in an easy-going manner, nothing of importance happened for most of the time. There were stray hunts, but apart from the one where they got to see what Rias Gremory's peerage was capable of, none of them were notable in any way.

There was also that other time.

"Your mom said she needed spices but I can't seem to find any."

"I think I know where we might find those but we still need eggs and meat."

"Now what do we have here?" Aika Kiriyuu muttered seeing one of her classmates. Usually she wouldn't care, but seeing as this classmate had some interesting company she decided to follow them. The company she was speaking about was the new teacher, Ross-something-or-the-other, she was the usual hot, young teacher so the boys took a liking to her instantly, she didn't seem bothered by it but still shattered their dreams when one of them asked her out once, the ballsy fuck. He got his, and every others boy's dream shattered when she said that she was already married. _So if she really is married, why is she with Hyoudou? They certainly aren't siblings._

Following both of them she noticed that they were quite close, they seemed to know each other quite well, speaking casually with the other. _Cousins maybe? Hyoudou does look like he has foreign blood._ That theory was shattered into tiny pieces when she saw them hold hands. Cousins may do that but only when they're kids. They were both obviously not kids.

 _No way!_ Aika gasped. They probably made up the whole thing about Ross-whatever-her-name-is being married. They must be quite confident in their own lie to act like this even if they could be found by anyone, it's not like they were in another city and Kuoh certainly wasn't that large.

* * *

"For real?"

"Are you sure it was them?"

"And if it was them, were they really holding hands and all of that?"

Aika sighed, she had told a friend that she saw Issei and the new teacher together and now she was paying for it. "It was them, I'm sure of it. They looked like some married couple. They were shopping while holding hands for God's sake!" _Sorry Hyoudou, looks like I may have blown your story._

When she saw the tall young man in question enter the classroom she knew she had no escape. Everyone's eyes were on him as he calmly walked to is seat and sat down.

"What…?" He asked rather annoyed seeing every pair of eyes in classroom was on him, even Matsuda and Motohama.

"Someone said they saw you and Rossweisse-sensei- _So that's her name._ -shopping and that you looked rather… intimate." She had to give it to him, he was a pretty good actor, he didn't even flinch or move a muscle of his face, his expression staying in the same annoyed frown.

"Is that so? First time I'm hearing of this." He said taking out his notebook for their first class.

"I'm pretty sure it is. I did see you holding hands and looking at each other as if there was no one there but you two." Issei grumbled and continued to ignore their rambling.

In the end the rumors reached the ears of the Student Council president and those of the Principal. Since the Student Council Vice-President was Sona Sitri, Issei had only gotten off with a warning as did Rossweisse, since the Principal was also Rias's mother. In their opinion the warnings were there for show, they never had any intention of doing anything at school anyway and if someone saw them outside of school, there was nothing they could do. There was nothing to accuse them of, their relationship began before either of them were affiliated with the school so it wasn't like they met in school.

While everyone else calmed down and accepted it as fact, Motohama and Matsuda didn't take it so well.

"We trusted you Issei!"

"Why didn't you tell us? We promised each other we would all get girlfriends at the same time didn't we?"

In the end both of them calmed down after a couple of weeks and everything returned to normal.

Those were the two most notable things that happened during the whole one year and a half. Issei still went to train every day with the Einherjar, Rossweisse still worked as a teacher, and Rias and her peerage were doing everything they did before with the exception of sometimes spending time with Issei and Rossweisse. Since most of the time after school Issei was training, Rossweisse would spend most of her free time with the Gremory peerage. She had grown closer to the people that were in it, mainly the girls. Issei did as well but he and Kiba were closer, since they were both swordsmen, and, well, men. On the rare days when Issei didn't have to train or was resting, one could find him and Kiba sparring, the kendo club had happily offered them sparring swords and were always impressed at the swordsmanship the two were capable of, but because these were humans they couldn't do anything too crazy otherwise they would blow their cover.

* * *

Asia Argento, former nun, now searching for the only church in town was at her wits end. She had tried everything she could think of but no one spoke Italian and her Japanese was basic at best.

"Hey blondy, you lost? How about coming with us? We could help you find your way." Asia was suddenly pulled by something from behind, she almost lost her balance and fell down but something caught her. She looked behind herself to find a man with bleached hair and a stubble, with him were another two young men, one had a pierced lip and the other had long brown hair. Asia didn't know what they said but they seemed friendly enough.

"Does she even speak Japanese? Hey sister, can you speak Japanese?… Doesn't seem she can. Just our luck." The man with the piercing asked her something judging by the tone but she couldn't understand it, she really hated language barriers.

Asia took out her map and tried to show the men so that they may point her in the right direction.

"She's totally lost! Can you believe this?" The long haired man said something again. The man with bleached hair took her map, nodded and began walking, taking her by the hip. It looked like they were going to help her reach her destination.

Suddenly a young man of large build stopped the man with blond hair.

"And where exactly are you taking her?" Issei asked stopping the delinquents, they used to be his seniors in middle school and thus he knew all about their behavior.

"Aren't you a big useless pile of muscle! You know, I never get why people like you feel they're so strong and mighty. You're just another tall asshole, I've dealt with people twice your size." The guy with blond hair said taking a boxing stance. "Want me to share a little secret they teach you in boxing? The chin has no muscle!" He yelled and punched Issei in the chin. Usually, if someone is hit in the chin with enough force they get knocked out, this man having some boxing training did have enough force to his punch, enough for a human that is.

"You know. I really think you should work on your social skills. When someone asks you a question, you usually answer that question, not proceed to hit the person asking." Issei said glaring at the three idiots. That punch was nothing, compared to a punch from anyone in the Einherjar, it was like being slapped by an anorexic teenager.

"Fuck this! I'm out!"

"Yeah dude! You're on your own with big guy over there."

"Shit!"

And so they all ran away. Issei sighed and bent down to talk to the girl.

"You okay? You shouldn't give guys like those any opportunities, they're like vultures." The girl just looked at him weirdly. _Don't know the language, eh?_ He sighed once more and tried his best to communicate with the girl. In the end he got the general idea, she was looking for a church, the only chutch in the town, which was now a ruin. _There's something suspicious about this whole deal._ On their way to the church the nun ran towards a child a crying child and healed his wounds. _That green light is coming from those two rings. Let's see, artifact that can heal people, check, innocent, easily-deceived nun, check, meeting at ruined church, check. Well, seems like Fallen Angel work to me._

Once they were at Church, the nun dragged him inside where he found five people. One of them was a short man with white hair and tired, red eyes, to his left was a tall woman, slightly taller than Rosswiesse, she had long blue hair and a body that could rival that of Akeno's, next to her was another, slightly shorter woman, she had black hair and was dressed quite lightly, in what Issei would later describe as BDSM gear, swaying back and forth in a chair was a short girl with blonde pig-tails, next to her, sitting on a stool was a brooding middle-aged man.

"Asia, you never mentioned that you were bringing friends." The woman with black hair said to the nun.

Raynare wasn't exactly the brightest among Fallen but even she could tell the aura of the man before her was not that of a normal human. It was a strange aura, calm yet overwhelming, tamed but wild, and the fiery heat she felt whenever she tried to concentrate on it gave her some clues as to what the tall man before her could be. _Maybe some type of fire Yokai? That would explain the heat. No-no-no, Yokai are Japanese, he looks like he would fit better in some Viking Saga or some Middle Ages movie._ Indeed, the man before her looked nothing like the average Japanese man, he was towering above even Dohnaseek. Although tall and well-built, he wasn't overly muscular, that meant he preferred speed over power, but, you never know.

Her eyes never left the huge man before her as she summoned the stray exorcists that were all around the church, either patrolling or doing whatever else it was that they liked doing. The robed men appeared as if from thin air as soon as they felt the summon.

"Thanks for getting Asia safely to us but you're gonna have to leave now. I don't know what you are or what your business here is and I don't care to find out so let's make this easy on both of us and pretend we never met. We're currently on a very important mission entrusted to us by Kokabiel so we can't afford to have any hindrances. Make yourself scarce." Raynare said as the exorcists all drew their swords or pistols.

Dohnaseek had to question his leader's intelligence. Telling someone sensitive information like that when you can't even be sure if they are friend or enemy is a stupid move no matter how confident you are.

The tall man before them was too calm for Dohnaseek's liking, he was afraid they were playing with fire, fitting considering the overwhelming images of flames that appeared in one's mind when they gazed upon the tall, almost fair-haired young man.

"Raynare, I think we're in trouble, but we can still play this off. If he's associated with neither the Devils, Youkai or Shinto, we may be able to negotiate something, but if he is. I trust I don't need to tell you why we would be screwed in that situation." Indeed if the man before them was associated with any of the before mentioned factions they would be in trouble, this was a Youkai breeding ground, owned by Devils, on the island of the Shinto, none of them would not take kindly to unaccounted intruders, but if he was from any other factions they could stand on even ground.

Unfortunately for Dohnaseek, his leader was a woman of ambition and arrogance.

"Did you not hear me? Go away. This doesn't concern you."

"Sorry but Halloween has just passed and I don't trust you people with the life of a nun. So, before I burn this place to the ground, tell me what you want from her." Issei spoke, his expression as hard as stone, it did make for quite an intimidating sight.

"Ha! As if I'd tell you! Bluff all you want, you're outnumbered and outmatched!" Raynare said sounding more confident by the minute.

A small twitch from the white-haired man was all the warning Issei got before a loud bang was heard and something hit him in the chest. While the projectile wasn't strong enough to pierce his skin, it did carry enough power to send him to his knees and with a small bruise at the place of impact.

Upon seeing the young man collapse to his knees after he was shot Asia could only think the worst has happened and rushed to the man's side. Before she could react to what was happening she was suddenly lifted from her feet and found herself in a princess carry, in the hands of the tall young man.

With the nun safely secured in his arms Issei turned around in the blink of an eye and was already out of the church before Raynare or anyone else in the church registered what happened.

As soon as he was a safe distance from the building, Issei spoke as single word and the church burst into flames.

"Brenna."


	5. Chapter 5

"So let me get this straight. You burned down the church just in the off-chance they may do something to her?" Rossweisse said rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"They weren't the most friendly of people so I assumed whatever they wanted with her, it wasn't something I would be proud to help them achieve by being the one who brought her there. And if she had any objections she would have voiced them." Issei said gesturing towards the nun who was looking between the both of them with an interested expression.

"What exactly was she supposed to say when she doesn't know an iota of Japanese."

"She could still have slapped me or something." Rossweisse groaned and looked towards the nun who was still standing on the couch in the exact same position they left her in.

"I'll try and talk to her."

"You know what language she speaks?"

"Well, no. Now that I think about it no one taught you how to do it did they? Well, there was no reason I suppose. I'll teach it to you after I find out why our dear guest is still here and hasn't run off."Rossweisse said and turned towards the blond nun.

"Hello. My name is Rossweisse Hyodou, the man who brought you here is my husband Issei Hyoudou. Would you mind explaining to me what those Fallen wanted with you?" Issei looked on in surprise when Rossweisse started speaking in fluent Italian, or at least that's what it sounded like.

"Ah! I'm sorry I was taken a little by surprise that someone could speak Italian here. My name is Asia Argento, I… I had been excommunicated but not long after I got word that someone would like to allow me to continue doing what I've done until now if I could assist them in a sensitive matter." _So basically they tricked her into coming here. Either to have her slave away and heal any injuries they might sustain or to take out her Sacred Gear themselves and remove any unwanted objections she may have. Classic._

"I see. I'm afraid that they wouldn't have let you do as you pleased, Fallen are corrupt creatures who take pleasure in corrupting pure people like yourself."

"I… I see." Asia said nodding.

"It might be a stupid question but why have you not protested at all when Issei brought you here, or better yet, when he burned down the church?" It was indeed strange, from what Issei had told her of the nun she should have been a total pacifist and would have probably fainted if someone even did anything remotely violent in her vicinity.

"When I first saw Mister Issei, I felt as if the Lord told me to trust this man, I felt as if I could fully trust him. After that, when Mister Issei saved me I could feel that they deserved it. The Lord showed me that those flames would cleanse them, and their sins would be forgiven." While Asia's words may have sounded detached it was clear she was sad for the corrupt Angels. _No matter how heartless I cannot imagine a being who would be able hurt such a pure girl._ Thought Rossweisse.

"I see. Well, I cannot speak in the name of God but as his wife I can confirm that Issei is someone you can trust."

"And as her husband I can say the same for Rose. You can stay here for a while until we figure something out and see if our problem with the Fallen is solved." Said Issei from his spot leaning against the wall of the living room.

"Come on, I'll show you the guest bedroom, you must be tired, flying here all the way from Italy and having to deal with all of this." Asia nodded slowly and followed Rossweisse up the stairs.

Once Asia was settled in Rossweisse came down the stairs and settled on the couch glaring at Issei.

"What?" Issei mumbled with a mouthful of food.

"Listen, I understand why you wanted to save her but you could have handled it a lot better, especially since from what you told me, their leader was quite… stupid."

"I agree, but I honestly didn't have the patience to elaborate some plan into tricking them or whatever else, it was the fastest way to ensure the most damage, even if they survived they should be busy licking their wounds for a time."

"I'm surprised you actually thought this through."

"More like realized it after I already did it but if it makes you feel any better sure, I planned it." Issei said with a grin after he downed a glass of water. Rosswiesse sighed and rubbed her temples, for all the charm Issei had he was still one of the Norse Gods, even if not by birth, his behavior was so similar to theirs he might as well have been born one. Well, no one is flawless, and for every flaw she found, she would be reminded of two good aspects of his personality.

"Leaving the way things were handled aside, this remains a delicate matter. A group of Fallen who were supposedly led by a Cadre, were acting without authorization in Devil controlled territory and were dealt with by someone from a non-Biblical faction. Odin, do I hate politics, it's hard enough dealing with our own but add to that mix everyone else and their own way of dealing with things and we have ourselves a mess Loki would be proud of." She sighed again and collapsed on the couch with a mentally exhausted moan.

Issei took out two glasses from a cuboard and poured himself and Rossweisse some ale. Handing her the glass he sat down beside her and ran a hand though her soft silver hair. She sighed in satisfaction and leaned into him enjoying the naturally higher body temperature he had, it was definitely something she enjoyed on cold winter nights, or chilling rainy days.

"It's fine, while it may be a mess it's not something that unusual. What's unusual is who was supposedly leading them."

"We'll see what happens, I'll contact Odin and see if Azazel was aware of this."

After sitting in silence for a couple minutes simply enjoying the ale and the presence of the other Issei decided they should follow Asia's example and retire for today, they had school tomorrow after all and his parents were no doubt going to ask questions about why there's suddenly a soft-spoken blond nun in their house.

* * *

The next morning Issei quickly went downstairs and waited for his parents to wake up, turning on the TV he was embarrassed to find that his little stunt had made it to the news. Of course the source of the fire couldn't be found since it was Norse-brand magic so unless they had a magician they couldn't even begin to guess what could have started it, for now it was considered a classic case of vandalism.

"So someone finally decided that thing had been standing there for long enough, huh?" He heard the voice of his father. "Morning, son."

"Good morning, dad. And yes, it seems so, although it has left some victims." And so Issei proceeded to make up a story about Asia, how she was a friend of Rossweisse and how she wanted to check on the state of the church. "As you can see that went down the drain rather fast." He finished gesturing to the TV that surprisingly still talked about the 'Developing Story'.

"Well, I don't really mind, she can stay as long as you and Rossweisse watch over her. Under any other circumstances I would worry about how she would support herself but Rossweisse's salary as a starting teacher is close to my own, we might be in totally different fields but still. Guess Kuoh Academy is really as high-class as they make it out to be if it can afford to pay beginners that much." Issei was surprised how well his father took it but he figured his father was right. Rossweisse did indeed have a hefty salary at Kuoh, enough to almost match his father who was a manager at some company he had forgot the name of. In any case, he supposed the matter with Asia was dealt with for the time.

Once both his mother and Rossweisse woke up and came downstairs, Issei and his father explained the situation and after everything was cleared up, they had breakfast and went to school.

After school Issei and Rossweisse decided it was time to give Rias a report on what had happened last night, this was her territory after all.

"...I'm not sure how many escaped but those who did should have at least second degree burns." Issei finished off as Rias stared intently at him, a bewildered expression on her face. Causing that much damage so casually was insane, even for recently ascended God.

"And this nun, Asia? What do you plan on doing with her? The Church will not take her back. The Grigori will no doubt take her in but I doubt she would be treated fairly, even with her gift. I could take her in myself, with her permission of course, give her housing and a place in the Academy if she wishes but I'm afraid it won't be for free." Rias said, it was clear what her motives were but from what he had seen so far the Rias treated all her servants fairly, he doubted Rias was stupid enough to mistreat someone with a gift like Asia's. So the only question that remained was if she wanted to take Rias up on her offer. While he could take her in himself, he would do so as his own person, without the backing of any of the Norse Faction, they had a… strange relationship with the Church and anything related to them. Someone with sufficient talent would of course be welcomed regardless of former alliances but unfortunately for Asia she did not meet the requirements.

"Will you reincarnate her as a Devil?" Asked Rossweisse.

"Only if she wishes. That is why I demanded payment, as insurance. The Gremory clan has enough fortune to sustain on lone human girl but we can't just go around taking everyone in, so until she will be able to support herself she would be in our care and living on our fortune. So until a time when she wishes to join us we will require some form of payment."

"Reasonable, I suppose." Said Issei crossing his arms. "So, what payment would you like? Should I start making plans to gather the souls of the innocent? Blood of virgins? Or maybe cold cash will do?" He said with a small smirk, Rias smiled softly at his joke and shook her head.

"No, I'd rather you not hurt innocents in my territory, and money is not something we would need unless my father somehow wasted thousands of years of built up fortune in minutes. What I want is a favor." Issei looked at Rossweisse and after she nodded he turned towards Rias again and spoke.

"Fair enough. I can accept that, unless it's something unreasonable, of course. So, what is this favor?"

"...I-I'm currently engaged to a man I'd rather not see more than is required of me as the next heir of the Gremory household. He is an arrogant, egotistical prick who only sees me, my peerage, and his own as trophies. What I want from you is to help me break it. I'm ashamed to say that I haven't thought as far ahead as to know what to do now that I have your agreement." Rossweisse pulled at Issei's sleeve and she began to talk quietly so that not even the Devils's enhanced hearing could pick up everything.

"It's not exactly a good deal for us but as a woman I understand her position and wish I could help her. If I had to marry someone like that I would do anything in my power to stop it, Odin and his wishes be damned." Issei closed his eyes and nodded.

"There's still Asia we have to take into consideration. This entire thing will only work if she wants to be transferred in Rias's care." Rossweisse furrowed her brows and bit her lip. Issei was right, if Asia didn't want to be under a Devil's care this whole deal would be off.

"I-If that happens we can still help her, right? After hearing that I don't think I will be able to live with myself knowing that Rias will have to marry someone who sounds so repulsive."

"We'll see what happens. I think we should also notify Odin of this, even if he wants others to leave Asgard and see what the world has to offer, even he should be able to see how this could affect us negatively." Once again turning to Rias, Issei nodded and stood up along with Rossweisse.

"We'll talk with Asia about this and see if she agrees." And with that they both left the room and went home to hear from Odin and Asia.

Once they were back home Issei collapsed into the couch and sighed. Asia was in the kitchen preparing something when Rossweisse walked in and asked her to come into the living room, or rather, walk three steps until she was on the couch.

Issei wasn't sure how to break the news so he let Rossweisse handle it.

"Asia, we had a little talk with the Warden of Kuoh, one Rias Gremory, a High-class Devil who would like to take give you a place to live and a schooling at Kuoh Academy. This deal doesn't require anything more out of you than your agreement, the Gremorys are a benevolent family so you don't have to worry about being mistreated. Do you accept?" Asia stared at Rossweisse for a second before her expression grew sad.

"Am I a bother?" She asked looking up at Rossweisse and then Issei, she looked to be on the verge of tears.

"No. No! Of course not. It's nothing of that sort. Issei's parents are as of right now unaware of the Supernatural so it's a little hard explaining to them why a foreign girl is staying in their house." Rossweisse tried to quickly diffuse the girl's worries that she was unwanted.

"Speaking of which. Where are they?" Asked Issei looking at the golden haired former nun.

"They went grocery shopping from what I could gather." She replied as Issei hummed.

"Right. So, you accept their offer Asia? You'll still be close to us, we'll go to the same school, who knows maybe I'll teach your class." Rossweisse said with a smile.

"I… I refuse." Rossweisse nodded and smiled softly, it was actually what she had expected, Asia had never met Rias or anyone in her peerage yet so it was to be expected that she would be weary of such a deal that seemed too good to be true.

"That is fine. We'll try and think of something to tell my parents. Now, I need to see what news Odin has for me." And with that Issei went upstairs and called Odin. For some reason the old God was really fond of telephones, Issei wouldn't complain, at least he didn't have to memorize some special spell or whatever to speak to Odin.

"Issei my boy, how is school going?" Odin answered with a lighthearted tone, if he wasn't already used to the laid-back nature of the Chief-God he was sure he would be shocked by such casualness.

"Meh, it's okay. Forgive my rudeness, sir, but what have you been able to find regarding the matter with the Fallen Angels?" Issei asked trying to skip the small-talk that was sure to erupt if Odin was left to speak freely, if the man was any more laid-back he would be falling backwards.

"Well, Azazel has told me of the situation but has requested that he be the one to explain it to you. Honestly, I don't care, it's less trouble for me. Now I have an appointment at a Strip Club and I rather not be late. Azazel said he would contact you so don't worry. Now I'm going to-"

"Wait! Before you go, I have one more question. I ask permission to break an engagement between two devils, Rias Gremory and one Riser Phenex."

"That I cannot allow my boy. It is not our business to get involved in others dealings. The Gremory girl is unsatisfied and wants you to break her free, right? While I have given you more freedom than I give even myself that was because you are young and circumstances demanded it. I cannot allow you to interfere, not without the permission of one of the Satan's… I know it might hurt you to abandon one of your friends like this but my hands are as tied as hers."

"But, what if Lucifer himself allows me to interfere?"

"I doubt it, since him and his father are probably the ones who arranged it the first place. But in that case I wouldn't care, I'm only speaking as a Chief-God, if Lucifer grants you permission I have no objections, even if you go wild, even if you kill the Devil, it will no longer be my responsibility. Now, I've kept those beautiful ladies waiting long enough." And with that Odin hung up and Issei removed the phone from his ear with a sigh.

Once again Issei found himself in the Occult Research Club room waiting for Rias and the others to return from some minor bureaucratic business they needed to take care of with the Student Council from what he could gather.

As time slowly went by, Issei started to dread this conversation more and more. In the two years that Issei has known Rias and her peerage, he had grown fond of them, they were good friends, one thing he had learned under the tutelage of the Norse is that he should take care of his friends so that they in turn take care of him. Despite his laid-back attitude, Odin was still an old and wise God and some of his sayings still applied today. That is why his dread was building up, he wanted to be sincere with them and tell them the truth, but that truth will undoubtedly hurt them, especially Rias.

Lost in his thoughts as he was Issei didn't notice when the door opened and in came the aforementioned King with her Peerage.

"Is something the matter Issei-san?" Asked Rias seeing the usually gentle and laid-back giant with such a complicated expression on his face.

Once Issei heard Rias's voice, he realized that he couldn't delay this anymore. Steeling his resolve, he promised himself that he would abolish this engagement even if he had to go against Lucifer himself.

"I hate to do this but it has to be done. Asia said that she doesn't want to join you, this means that I also can't help you. While the Norse faction didn't officially participate in the fighting during the Great War, discussions between our two factions are still a bit touchy, considering the small number of us that did fight joined in with your enemies. I'm afraid, as of right now, unless one of the Satans or even Lucifer himself agree to my involvement, I can't help you, as much as I wish I could." He said after taking a deep breath and schooling his features.

Rias, who until now was standing up, collapsed on her chair, her brow was furrowed and her lower lips was trembling. "I-I see…"

"I can only offer you my sympathy for now."

"It's fine Issei-san. By trying to help, you've already done more than my father and brother combined." Said Rias with a sad expression. Issei's eyes softened and left the King to be comforted by her Peerage.

* * *

Generally speaking the Fallen were rather secretive and few could be seen 'in the wild' so to speak, because of this, the sight before Issei was a rare and unusual one. A Fallen girl, -young but still holding true the notion that all Fallen were beautiful creatures- was in front of Issei holding with a smile on her face, it was clear he was her target since her eyes had been fixed on him as soon as he turned the corner on his way home.

"You must be Issei Hyoudou, correct?" She spoke, her voice was surprisingly deep but still feminine.

"That's me, yes. What do you want?"

"I was told you would be an intimidating sight but to be honest I wasn't expecting this." She spoke looking up at him. "Anyway, I have a message from the Governor General."

"Azazel?"

"Indeed. He wishes to speak with you, come to this address around six in the evening today." _Ah yes, Odin did say Azazel wanted to speak with me in person. Well, this should prove to be a learning experience._

"Understood. Thank you, I'll be there." With that Issei walked away and headed home.

"Welcome back, Issei! Where's Rose-chan?" Issei's mother greeted him as he entered the kitchen.

"Staff meeting." He replied simply taking something to drink from the fridge. With a quick glance at the clock he noticed he had more or less two hours before he would have to meet with Azazel.

Finally the hour had come and Issei was already at the address specified. It looked to be an average, if a bit expensive, apartment complex. Security was tight but thankfully, Azazel had come down and cleared up the issue, he had wanted to greet him in the lobby but it seemed Issei was a little early.

Once they had reached the Governor General's apartment, Issei took note of the many expensive and rare paintings on the walls and the rather modern look the whole apartment had. He was honestly expecting something like the Occult Research Club room, with it's old and antique feel.

"Nice, isn't it? It can get boring to sit in the same office or lab for more than a hundred years so I make an effort to stay in touch with housing trends." At these words Issei realized that he was now in the presence of a very old and powerful being, one that was recorded in the Bible, a feat done by very few.

"Don't look so tense, while I'm looking for reparations for those Fallen that we have lost, they were of low standing and had already disobeyed me on multiple occasions and with what they were doing and for who, I was already planning on dealing with them in a… similar fashion..." Azazel walked over to the couch and sat down, Issei doing the same, the Governor General took the bottle that was on the table and poured some of the liquid in the glass in front of him. "Care for a drink? It's old Whiskey. I know you're technically underage, but I figured that having the soul of a Fire Giant and being a God, the rules of humanity stop applying." Issei shrugged and pushed his glass towards the Fallen Angel to be filled.

Taking a sip, Issei was surprised by how strong it was. He had drank ale when he first arrived in Asgard without knowing it was an alcoholic drink but that was almost three years ago and he had rarely drank anything alcoholic since then, certain occasions like last night were rare and far between, Japan had rather strict laws when it came to underage drinking. Still, after taking some time to get used to the taste, he found that it wasn't as bad as he expected.

"Now, if you'll allow me I'm going to explain exactly why those Fallen were on Devil territory and what I want as reparations. As I'm sure you know, since the Great War ended I've been immersing myself in research on Sacred Gears, the reason for that is that most Sacred Gear users are considered to have high reproductive potential, meaning that any children born from a union with a Sacred Gear user would have a high chance of survival, no matter the race of the other parent. Thus these children would also be more powerful in general, the power of the Sacred Gear acting as a sort of multiplier. Let's take for example the daughter of a friend of mine. Even among Fallen Angels she is quite well-endowed and seductive, these are traits that every Fallen Angel has but that were multiplied by her mother's Sacred Gear. The great thing is, it doesn't even have to be awakened, as is the case of my friend's wife.

"From this I hope you can understand why I would want to recruit Sacred Gear users, I can sate my curiosity _and_ boost our population.-Issei hummed and nodded in agreement- Now, since Sacred Gear users are rare and even fewer hold Sacred Gears that are very useful or powerful, Twilight Healing being one of them, you can imagine why I would have applied the same punishment as you have. You see, they planned to take away Twilight Healing, in doing so, it would have lost it's proprieties, the multiplicative proprieties only manifesting if the user was born with the Sacred Gear in question, so even if you insert it into a human, that human would be able to use it to it's full potential but his offspring would be born as if the parent didn't have any Sacred Gear.

"That is because Sacred Gears are tied to ones soul, it is why the process of taking away a Sacred Gear kills the one who is it's rightful owner, restoration of the soul and Sacred Gear can be done but in a very small time window. This also makes me think that somehow you have created the first fully functional artificial Sacred Gear, something I've tried to do for some time with varying degree's of success -At these words, Issei tensed, his eyes narrowing- Your soul is tied to Surtr's, right? I'll need to study this further, perhaps I could use it…" By the end Azazel was lost in thought and mumbling to himself.

"How do you know about that? It's not like we've kept it a secret, but neither have we gone out of our way to announce it either."

"Simple, before going rogue Raynare, one of the Fallen you killed, was a spy of sorts, looking for Sacred Gear users in this town, a bit illegal but Fallen are good at keeping their nature a secret, and Raynare was among the best."

"Are you sure? She seemed like an idiot when I met her."

"I said she was one of the best, not the brightest. She always was too arrogant for her own good, always going on about how we were superior to everything. Perhaps that's why she joined up with Kokabiel."

"She did say he had entrusted them with a mission."

"Yes, that's what I was getting at before I lost myself in my thoughts. Kokabiel, one of the remaining Cadre-Class Fallen Angels has gone rogue some time ago, taking with him the most arrogant or naive of our forces. I have a vague idea what he wants to do in this city, since in this town there live two very special Devils, Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri, both sisters of Satans, it is also Shinto ground and on top of all that, a Norse God along with his companion also live here. If something were to happened to all of them, then with one 'stone' he would have angered three factions at once.

"So, this is what I ask of you. I cannot intervene myself, it would take too long to get everyone to see what he plans and politics take forever when dealing cross-faction. I ask that you keep an eye out and watch over Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri, they can look out for themselves but it never hurts to be too careful. If anything happens on your side, I ask that you contact me. -Azazel took out a pen and paper and wrote something down. _I guess modern conveniences are too good to pass up, huh._ Thought Issei as he recognized the writing as a phone number- This is a secure number, you can contact me directly if anything happens. Of course, if I hear anything about it, I'll contact you."

"I understand your concerns, but this seems a bit… strange and too good to be true. Why would you protect the Satans' sisters? Why not ask more out of the Norse faction? You would have the right to. Rogue or not, I did kill some of your very precious forces, did I not?" Issei asked with suspicion.

"If Kokabiel does achieve his goals it would take me too long to act, the Great War would start anew, something I wouldn't want even in the most dire of times. That is why it seems like I'm asking too little of you, when in fact I am entrusting you with the future of the Fallen, if the War breaks out, Fallen Angels will die, we are currently the weakest out of all the Biblical races, while it saddens me that they had to die, I would rather that few die so that many can live, it is a sad truth that I have learned the hard way…" With that Azazel took a sip from his drink and rose from the couch. "Now, I'm sure you're tired after having heard so much and being entrusted with a responsibility no one your age should have, I'll teleport you close to your home." Issei groaned as he rose from his seat and entered the portal Azazel had created.

Once on the other side, the portal closed and Issei was left a few streets from his home in a dark alley where no one would have noticed him suddenly appearing.

A/N: So there's that. The whole reproduction thing is of course not canon in case any of you were wondering, although it would make Azazel's efforts even more justified in the original series.

Anyway, any mistakes I made or will make are probably oversights, like the whole Aika thing and some others. I'm generally very lazy so I won't go back to fix things and I write very rarely, it's only a small hobby of mine. Same goes for grammatical or punctuation mistakes.

See you whenever I decided to get off my ass and write or find the motivation to do so. (Once in a blue moon).


End file.
